Finding Edward
by chillicrab
Summary: Project: Finding Edward. Destination: Unknown. Where in the world could he be? Bella realised after Edward left that he was only doing so for her benefit, so she's determined to find him. What I intended instead of the 1-shot. Bella's quest to find him.
1. New project

**AN: This is the story I originally plan, instead of the one-shot I made earlier. It will have a completely different plot. Obviously a LOT longer. The first part of this chapter is the same as in the one-shot, that's about it.  
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**I don't own this. It's Stephenie Meyer's.**

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Shock overwhelmed me that I wasn't aware that he was already out of my sight. When I realised he was gone, panic took over shock in an impulse, and I strenuously tried to search for him, running towards the direction of the breeze, only to stumble upon a root of a tree after only a few meters. I looked hopelessly all around me, realising no matter how fast I could run, even without my two left feet, I wouldn't have been able to catch him up. He was gone, and there was no stopping him.

I replayed the scene a hundred times in my head, slow motion on some important parts, studying all the emotions and his facial expressions that were attached to them. By now I had memorised the whole sequence, I could even play it backward. _I don't want you to come with me... I'm not human... You're not good for me... Goodbye, Bella... It will be as if I'd never existed. _It was like there was a 'rewind and play' programmed in my head which was stuck on infinite loop.

_Don't do anything reckless or stupid..._ I paused and rewound. It was the same overprotective eyes that stared back at me, not the distant, cold ones like he put on throughout the rest of the conversation. In that instant, he was Edward the way he registered himself in my mind. I must have turned crazy. Was I over-analysing the whole thing, that I began to plant a seed of hope that he purposely put on that cold façade? I replayed the whole scene again from the beginning, gripping tight to that new angle, that seed of hope, searching for any other clue I had missed.

_Of course, I'll always love you... in a way. _I couldn't see his expression when he said that words, but he was definitely looking away then. Was it just a coincidence that he didn't meet my eyes, or was it because he was trying to hide his real emotions, afraid that I could see them in his eyes?

I rewound more to our less recent conversations. How he repeatedly said he loved me and my existence was his sole reason to live, in so many words. How was it possible that his feelings changed so dramatically that he did not want me anymore? The seed of hope grew as my analysis went deeper.

I pondered on my new revelation. He was determined to leave me and I couldn't have done anything to stop him. Even if I saw through him then, he would have managed to convince me, to _un-dazzle_ me, if necessary. By word or by force. Was there really nothing I could do? Suddenly I felt so powerless, and insecurity as my first natural instinct washed through me. What if I was wrong? What if his feelings had truly changed, and I was holding on an unfounded hope? My body went numb coming back to the same conclusion as I was at the beginning, to believe each word he said, as I always did.

No. I decided that it hurt me more to think like that. I simply couldn't go on living without him. I should nurture that seed of hope, even if it meant I was being delusional. I'd rather be delusional than dead. I had always been an expert in repressing bad memories, so this too shouldn't be a problem. As long as I kept my focus.

_Focus, now._ My seed of hope. To give it a chance, I should know the reason behind his act. Why did he lie?

He was incredulously notorious in putting me in his foremost priority, above all else, above himself most definitely, so this act must have been about me. To protect me? From what? His brother's potential attack upon smelling my blood? That sounded so trivial to me and knowing Edward, he would have come up with a number of solution for that problem without involving him leaving. I kept racking my brain for potential problems, but none of the scenarios fit. I should look at it from a different angle. What benefit did he think I'd get if he was no longer exist? I shook my head. None whatsoever. As far as I'm concerned, my life was meaningless without him, and he should know it. He should, but did he really know how much I feel for him? Did he think I could go on living my life without him, moving on, as if I had never met him? Did he? Silly Edward. That _was_ plausible, the only reason that fit his masochistic character. This was his gift for me, a second chance of life, to free myself from him, from his kind, and the complexity of our relationship. A very thoughtful gift, to my best interest to his best knowledge. A gift that I didn't want, and I wanted to return it. _Yes. I need to find him. _But how?

I looked around to find myself surrounded by darkness. I didn't know how long I had gone, and Charlie must have been home hours ago. I needed a clearer brain to think this through, and this was certainly not the place. I walked back to the approximate direction of the house, with more upbeat feelings than when I started running to find him. I had hope. With that positive mind, I tried to control my fear, to find my way out in the dark. I could see a light, and felt relieved when I realised I wasn't that far away from the trail, and when I could see the trail, I would see the end of it. I walked faster when I was on the trail, and I almost run to the house.

When I got to the house, I saw Charlie on his cruiser sitting on the driver's seat, with his door open. He had left the front door open too.

"Charlie!" I almost sprinted towards him. It was a miracle that I didn't stumble upon my own feet. "What's wrong?"

He got out of the car and he looked so relieved when he saw me. "Where have you been, Bella? You got me so worried!"

"I'm sorry. I... went hiking and got lost. It became dark and difficult to find my way back..."

He hugged me before I could finish.

"Where's Edward?" Charlie asked, holding me on my both shoulders, looking around.

"Why? Why are you asking about Edward?" I was alarmed. What did he hear? Did Edward inform Charlie that he was leaving?

"Wasn't he with you? You wrote me this note, Bells, saying you were with Edward..."

I saw the crumpled note in his hand, and I smiled. Another proof that he still cared. "Yes, I was with him earlier, but he left before I went hiking."

"Don't you scare me like that again, Bella. You should at least tell me when you want to go hiking, I could come with you."

"Sorry that. Never again, I promise, Dad."

After Charlie made sure again that I was okay, I went inside to take a bath, while he sorted out the situation on his radio, to tell people that I was home. After a long bath my head was clearer, and I should not delay my plan any longer. Sitting on my desk, I found a piece of paper and started writing.

_Project: Finding Edward. _

_Destination: Unknown. _

Where in the world could he be?

I could only think of one plausible place, Denali. I remember he went there last time when he was trying to avoid me. If he wasn't there, at least the people there could give me pointers. But where exactly or approximately in Denali? I didn't even know their last names to start looking for them in the phone book.

Was there anyone who could help me? Anyone who would know of his whereabouts? Anyone in his family would know, but I bet by now they had evacuated the house, and knowing the Cullens, they would have been meticulous, leaving no trace behind. Private investigator? _Like that would help._

Could Alice help? Maybe, I should start thinking about harming myself, and actually believing in it. Maybe that might work. Maybe if she would come to my aid if she had seen trouble coming my way.

I didn't know how I manage to fall to slumber land that night, because my head was full with different possible ways I could harm myself as an attempt to re-connect with Alice. I felt sick, but if this could help, even though it meant I would break my final promise to Edward, it must be well worth it. But he might or might not lie, and I might or might not harm myself, so we were sort of even. When I finally fell asleep, my dream was dreadful, I was lying on a dark alley, bloodied and dying. I tried to scream for help but I could not hear my own voice. No one came to help.

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I woke up alone, drenching in sweat although the blanket and the covers were nowhere near my body. It felt really numb waking up without him snuggling close to me. As much as I had believed he still loved me, he did leave, a few hours ago, which felt like eternity already. _I miss him…_ I cried when the pain from the loss suddenly washed over me. I felt empty, like something was missing. My heart. Like it had been taken out completely out of its place. I knew then I couldn't continue being like this without him, I couldn't survive without doing something to bring him back into my life.

I went back to my thinking process from last night. I had thought all the worst possible way I could to end my life, and actually believed in it to trigger an alarm in Alice's vision. Why didn't that work? Was she busy keeping watch on something else? Was she purposely blocking me from her vision? Did she simply not care about me? I rubbed my eyes to remove the fresh new tears that had threaten to fall.

I decided to give her time. Meanwhile I should check on their house, see if it was still standing. _It will be as if I'd never existed, _he I still be able to find it? What about the hospital? The school? Did they take all the cars? A dozen other questions started to drag a string of possibilities. If I wanted a chance in finding him, I must not miss the tiniest detail.

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It had been a week since Edward left. School had been both torturing and a mental escape. Torturing because well, his disappearance was a constant reminder of how much I miss him. On the flip side, it provided me… what was his word for it? Oh yes, distraction. Something else to concentrate other than this overwhelming feeling of longing for him.

My visits to the Cullens' house had provided me with no further clue. It was still there, standing tall, with all the curtains drawn shut. I contemplated in breaking into the house, but I knew being Cullens, they must have been meticulous and leaving no trace behind anyway. The post box had previously been emptied. I had made subsequent visits daily to check the post box, but there weren't anything there other than junk mail.

I tried calling his phone numerous times, only to be greeted by his voicemail prompt. I left messages asking, pleading, even threatening him to call me, but he never called back.

After a few days of bribing Mrs. Cope with home made lunch, sweets, cookies and cakes, I could coaxed her into giving me printed details of Edward's previous school records. I told her I wanted to contact his old school for a possible reunion plan, a surprise gift for him. A little bit far fetched, but she bought it anyway. As soon as I looked at it, I knew it was a made up record. There was no way he could have gone to school in Los Angeles. But I still kept it with me, because it had listed some primary school in Alaska.

After getting his school records, I decided against looking at Carlisle's record in the hospital. One, I bet those stuff were strictly confidential. I had no connection in that hospital whatsoever. Two, even if I manage to get it, it could have been a made up one. Three, it was too risky and might arouse suspicions. I didn't want Charlie to find out about any of this.

I was coming back from yet another fruitless trip from the Cullens house, when my truck suddenly made a loud banging noise and jerked to a stop. After a few unsuccessful attempts of restarting it back to life, I panicked. It was in the middle of the path in the woods, quite far away from the suburban road, let alone the highway. I opened the door and stepped out, trying to decide what to do with it. Opening the hood shouldn't do any harm, should it? But I would have no clue what to make of anything under it. Then I heard the thunder, I look up I saw the dark clouds were hanging low in the sky, just my luck.

"You're Isabella Swan, right?" A voice I didn't recognise startled me.

I turned around. The face looked familiar. I tried to remember where I could have seen this guy, but I still couldn't.

Seeing my hesitance, he elaborated, "Isabella Swan? Chief Swan's daughter, right? My name is Sam. Sam Uley." He walked closer to the front of the car, when he asked, "Trouble with the truck?"

I nodded. Still couldn't remember him. His voice now sounded familiar too.

He opened the hood and took a good look at it, then he held out one hand to me and started to punch some numbers on his phone.

"Jacob? I need you to come pick me up on the trail near the Cullens'. Bring tow straps. I need to tow your old truck…. Yes… Well as a matter of fact she's here with me."

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**AN: So what do you think? Should I continue? **


	2. Meet Jacob Black

**AN: Thanks to those who review/fav/put my story on alert list. You all made my day!**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. Stephenie's.  
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As soon as he said Jacob's name, it clicked in my head. Of course, Sam Uley. He was there at the La Push beach when I was so determined in finding out the truth about Edward's identity. Just as I was now determined in finding out the whereabouts of the very same person.

"Sam, right? Jacob's friend?" I asked.

"Yeah, from the reservation," he replied, smiling at me. This was probably the first time I'd seen him smile. He was very reserved on our last encounter.

"I'm not sure what to make out of this beast," he pointed at my truck, "but Jacob is coming with his car so at least he could drop you home while your truck is being fixed."

"Thanks." I was going to say more but the sound of thunder alerted me again. The rain was going to pour down any time now.

"What were you doing here anyway?" he asked, as if he was annoyed that I went out of my way to get stuck in the woods.

I shrugged. Although I was thankful that he helped me, I really didn't want anyone to know what I was up to.

"I got lost. Took the wrong turn and ended up here." Pathetic effort, but before he pressed any further, I countered, "What were _you_ doing here?"

"I was just… doing my round." Doing his round? On foot? He didn't elaborate, but I didn't really want to know.

After a thick uncomfortable silence, we heard Jacob's car from a distance, and soon after that I could even see his arm waving from inside the window, before the car screeching to a stop just next to my truck.

"Hey Bells! What's up with the old guy?" Jacob snickered while walking towards us with a few ropes and cables in his hand. He looked like he had grown more since I saw him last, what was that, a couple of months back?

"I don't know. I was hoping you could diagnose him, doc."

He took one look inside the hood, and said, "Well, let's see if we could resurrect him with electric shock, shall we?"

Jacob went inside the truck, fiddling with some of the sticks, and came back out. He opened the hood of his car and attached some sticks into his car and then to mine. Then he turned his car back on before he jumped back into my truck. It started to crank a little, then he revved the engine and suddenly my truck was making its healthy loud noises again.

"Okay. I hope it was just the old battery, but I need to do total check up on the guy anyway. We'll drive the old guy to my house, where I have the appropriate tools for it, and then I'll drive you home. Sam, are you coming?"

"No. You guys go ahead. I have to finish my round." And just like that, he left towards the woods.

"What was that all about?" I asked.

"I dun no, we don't get along that well for me to evaluate his actions." He tried to sound nonchalant but he couldn't hide deeper expressions in his eyes. Disgust? Resentment?

"You don't like him?"

"Ha!" He shrugged. His body language saying as if what I said was the understatement of the century. He didn't say anything for a while when I didn't respond, and then he started explaining, "Look. I don't know how to explain it. I don't hate him or _them_, but I just don't want to have anything to do with _them_."

"Them?"

"Yeah. He's like… a gang leader or some sort..." The thunder interrupted him and he quickly went towards the hood of each car to remove his cables. "Let's move from here before that hit us." He pointed to the dark rain cloud.

I started towards the car when he called, "Hey, do you know the way to my house?"

"No, is it far?"

"Not really. I'll lead the way, then. I'll keep an eye on you and keep the close distance so you could follow me easily. Let's hope the old guy stay alive till then."

Just then, the rain started pouring, prompting us to head towards our cars and drive away.

Alas we reached his house without even a hiccup from my truck. It was still pouring so I stayed inside the car. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to switch the engine off either.

I saw Jacob ran into his house as if the rain did not bother him. That kid could run in an Olympic. He ran back holding up an umbrella and then tapped on my window with a wide grin on his face. How could anyone be so cheery in this ghastly weather?

He opened the door and held out the worn out umbrella as close to the truck as possible. Only then did I realise that he only got the umbrella for my sake.

"It was just ten feet away, Jake. Did you think I couldn't manage?" I rolled my eyes although I was touched by his sweet gesture.

He still had that grin on his face. He held out the umbrella covering mostly me, and opened the passenger's side of his car. I quickly jumped in and he ran to the driver's side. As he sloshed down into the seat, I saw he was soaking wet. He didn't put his long hair into a ponytail so each lock dripped all over him and his car seat like a set of leaking taps.

"I'm sorry I've caused too much trouble to you today, Jacob."

"No, no. It's all cool. I wasn't doing anything anyway." He still had that silly grin on his face. How long could he keep that on? Could someone get hurt from too much smiling?

"I think I'm the one who should apologise," he added with a remorseful tone. "I personally took care of that old guy and kept it in good shape before… I don't know why…"

"It is in good condition, Jake. I've never had any problem with it, well, not until now, and I even get used to how loud the engine is. I love that truck, really, it has personality. I think it's just missing the previous owner so much since the new one is torturing him so much." I started to joke to lighten his mood. I didn't want him to think that he gave us a scrap metals.

"The guy does have personality." He chuckled and back to his jovial mood. His excitement and enthusiasm rubbed off on me. His smile was sure contagious.

"So why were you tormenting your poor old truck in the woods?"

"I was…" I hesitated, not knowing if I should tell him. I needed a confidant, and I felt he could be handy, but I didn't know if I could trust him. "I was just emptying the Cullens' mailbox while they're away."

"Right. I heard about that. So you're still keeping in touch with them then?"

"Of course." I pursed my lips, hoping that was the end of that discussion. He looked at me raising one of his eyebrow. Maybe he could tell I wasn't telling him the truth, but he stayed quiet for a while after that.

"How are they then?" Jacob asked after some time.

"Fine." I replied shortly. Long answers would only reveal my blatant lies. I was told many times that acting should be my last choice of profession, if all the other line of works were shutting their doors to me. Well, no, not even then.

"That's it? Fine?"

_Oh, God. He's not quitting it._ "Yeah, Jake. They're all fine."

"When are they coming back then?"

_Uh-Oh. I'm working on it._ "It's going to take them a while to come back."

"Why's that?"

_Good question. Argh. Okay, I'm running out of lines here._ "Because… The hospital there needed Carlisle's help, and they don't know how long they're going to… need him."

"Can't Edward and the others stay here? Isn't that a nuisance, changing schools and all?"

"They're used to it." I blurted out.

"Do they? They move about frequently, huh? Why's that?"

I scratched my damp hair and bit my lip. _What's with him and all his questions?_

"You ask way too many questions, Jake. If you're a cat you would have been killed nine times by now!" I said out of frustration. I seriously didn't have any more fake answers for him.

"Edward is someone very special for you, Bella, and you're my friend, aren't you? Of course I'm curious for you. I know Charlie is, too."

I sighed. I knew I must have worried Charlie since Edward never called since they all left. "But I'm fine, you see. If something's up, don't you think I'll be at least… upset or sad?"

"Exactly why I'm curious. But I still think something's up. I know it. You're just not telling me."

"Nothing. Jake. I'm not hiding anything." My words sounded more like a desperate plea than a conviction.

He pointed at my nose. "There. You just lied again. Have anyone told you that you're a terrible liar, Bella?"

I folded my hands on my chest and closed my eyes. I wasn't going to allow this interrogation to go any further.

"You could explain it to me here, or we could have a long discussion in front of Charlie. Your pick."

I snapped my eyes open. "What do you mean? No, no! Leave Charlie out of this."

"I will if you tell me."

I shook my head no, but he saw my hesitation. "I am not going to tell anyone, Bella, you can trust me. I am just really worried about you. I have a feeling one day you're going to disappear on us or something. I might be able to help, you know, whatever it is you're dealing with. We're friends, aren't we?"

We were already parked right in front of my house. I looked at his eyes and saw nothing but sincerity. I knew his claim in telling Charlie was most probably an empty threat, but if I had to admit that I did need help. Two heads were better than one, right? He had helped me last time when I had no clue about Edward's identity, he could very well help me again now if I could pick his brain.

I knew I could trust him, I just had this gut feeling that he would.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die." He said earnestly, making a cross on his chest with his thumb.

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**AN: Yeah I decided to write some more since it's weekend, so that's why two chapters in a day. Then I got tired and thought this was a good place to end the chapter :D **


	3. Talk to Jacob

**Disclaimer: Stephenie's, not mine. **

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Jacob ushered me inside with that tattered umbrella. It was still early evening, I still had more than an hour to fix up some dinner before Charlie arrived. I still got a bit of water on me, but not as much compared to his soggy self. I went upstairs to change into dry clothes and took a clean towel with me downstairs for Jacob to dry himself with. When he saw me with the towel in my hand offered to him, he took his shirt off and used the towel to dry his hair. When he finished, he wrapped the towel around his neck like a poncho.

He sat down on the dining chair, patiently waiting for me to initiate the 'talk'. I willed my brain to think that he was invisible until I put that chicken for roasting in the oven and set the timer. When I spun around to see him again, he – the topless Jacob - still had that stupid grin on his face.

"How much do you want to know?" I asked, not sure where to begin.

"As much as you're willing to tell me, Bells. I don't want you to be uncomfortable with me. I'm here to listen. Friends, remember? Whatever it is you're telling me, trust that I will understand."

"First off, wipe that smirk off your face. It's disturbing." I commanded. His grin grew even bigger.

"What? This?" He pointed to his slightly open mouth, looking somewhat perplexed now. "I can't help it. I'm just that happy to see you, that's all. I don't mean anything bad by it. I don't even realise I'm doing it, I swear!"

"Alright then," I saw no point in arguing and let the grin appeared back on his face. "Where should I start?"

I paused for a while, pondering whether I should tell him the whole truth, about vampires and stuff. The story wouldn't make any sense if I left that fact hidden from him, and this wasn't old news for him anyway, so I decided that I should tell him everything.

"Do you remember what you said to me that day on the beach… about your ancestors?"

"That horror story?" he caught on, wincing at the idea.

I nodded, and he immediately asked another question, "What's that got to do with you?"

"You told me about the cold ones, and what they are." I paused again, longer this time, I didn't want to shock him and give him a heart attack or something.

"Sure, sure. I told you all that. This suspense is killing me, Bells."

"Well, you were right about them Cullens. They _are_ the cold ones."

His reaction was evident with his involuntary goose bumps. He stared intently into my eyes, maybe hoping I would say 'just kidding' on him soon, and looked disappointed and confused when I did no such thing.

"They're… vampires?" He whispered his conclusion.

"Every single one of them."

"Wow… I wonder…" He trailed on and his eyes became unfocused.

"What?"

"I wonder then, if the rest of the legends are true. About us the tribe."

"What do you mean?"

He smiled at my question. "You have selective memory, Bells. You only remember parts of the legends that were important to you. The cold ones. Do you remember what I told you about the enmity?"

I racked my brain for some more information from that day, but I decided the person who gave me the information was right here. "What enmity?"

"According to the legend, the cold ones are the natural enemies of our ancestors, which were… well… werewolves."

"Oh!" I gasped, remembering the very same words he said to me at the beach. "_There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them."_

"Part of it was true, at least. I know for a fact that Carlisle did meet your great-grandfather, and made a pact with him. Edward was around that time too."

"Was he? Man, he's older than my great-grandfather?!"

I didn't think that was a question that warranted a reply. After pondering for a while, he asked again apprehensively, "Was my great-grandfather really a… werewolf then?"

"Edward didn't really elaborate on it. I don't know, Jake. Why is that bothering you?"

"Well, there are other stories too, that the descendants of the spirit wolf could become… you know… werewolves… to protect the tribe…"

He was scared that he could one day become one? As far as I knew, Billy was not a werewolf so why should he get nervous? "Well, if you don't hear a lot of wailing at nights then probably it was just a bit of a stretch in the story telling," I joked, since I could see he was seriously considering the idea.

Jacob smiled, but I could see it didn't reach his eyes. It was still bothering him. Then suddenly he snapped out of his thoughts. Looking back at me, he said, "Hey, you haven't finished your story. Why did Edward leave? Did he break up with you? Did he hurt you? Is he gone forever?"

"He left because he thought his very presence is deadly to me. He thought he's endangering my life by being with me…" I haven't finished my sentence when he interrupted, almost screaming at me, "God, Bella! You _knew_ he's a vampire and you still love him? When did you know about all this?"

"I knew about pretty much right after you told me."

"That long? You've been going out with him all this while knowing he's a bloodsucker? Are you nuts?"

"Jacob Black!" I pointed finger at his face. "I only shared this information because you said you were my friend and you would _understand_!" I almost spat at the word. _The nerve he has!_

"Sorry, sorry, Bells. I got carried away there. Please continue. You said he left because he didn't want you hurt, then, did you let him go?" He quickly regained his calm demeanor, scared that I was going to back out of telling him the rest of the story.

"He didn't really give me any choice. He just made an impression that he didn't want me anymore."

Jacob narrowed his eyes studying me. "And you're convinced the bloodsuck… Edward meant otherwise, because…?"

"Because I knew Edward loves me. He told me hundreds of times that he does, that I'm his life. He only said so because he thought leaving me is the best for me."

"Damn right it is." Jacob muttered under his breath but I could still hear it. I glared at him but continued on, ignoring his comment. "Now I just need to find him."

"You must be insane."

"Damn right I am," I took his words and made them mine.

"How in the world are you going to find him? He's a vampire, doesn't his kind lives stealthily? Damn I only just found out that he's a vampire… Even if you manage to find him, are you one hundred percent sure that your assumption is right? What if he really meant to leave you, that he really didn't want you?"

"I can't believe that, Jake. I really can't. Please don't ask me to think like that. I did think like that at the beginning, and the thought of him not wanting me…. it tears me to pieces. I couldn't. I refuse to believe that."

Jacob put both his hands on my shoulders, looking intently into my eyes. "Listen to me, Bells. I really think you should give it a shot. If what you said is true, if he's noble enough to leave you for your benefit, then maybe he's right and you should stay away from him. Edward knows best, right?"

"What's the point of both of us suffering when it's obvious that we both need each other? I'd rather live a day with him than my whole life empty without him."

"Okay. Let's not speculate whether or not he still loves you and leaving you was against his heart. Let's not even discuss about the fact that he's a vampire. Consider the fact that he's just ex-boyfriend. Someone from your recent past who should stay in the past. People get their hearts broken everyday, Bells. People move on. Why don't you just try living without him for a while. If it doesn't work, it won't be too late to find him. I will still help you."

"No. No, Jacob." I shook my head vehemently. "The only reason why I'm not losing my mind now, the only reason why I can still argue my case in front of you civilly like this, is because I've set my mind to find him. The minute I start to think otherwise, I… I don't think I can live like that, Jake. It's like readying myself to plunge into a black hole. Trust me, you wouldn't want to see me like that. _I_ don't want to see myself like that. "

I heard the sound of Charlie's cruiser pulling into the driveway. I knew Jacob could hear it too, because he started putting his damp shirt back on before he handed the towel back to me.

"I've got to go, Bells…" Jacob said, walking towards the front door.

"Aren't you staying for dinner?" I asked.

He shook his head no. "I… I need to clear my head. I'll call you, ok?"

Charlie came in and looked surprise seeing Jacob in the hallway. "Hey, Jake. On your way out?"

Jacob just nodded to Charlie, mumbled his good night and darted towards the door.

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**AN: I'm trying my best not to go OOC on all the characters. I hope Jacob's reaction is what's expected of him. It won't be long before Bella starts to find her clues. Stay tuned! **


	4. Memento

**Disclaimer: Stephenie's, not mine. **

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It has been exactly a week since I had any contact with Jacob. He did not show up. He did not call. He was never there whenever I called his house. A couple times Billy picked up the phone, and he said Jacob was sleeping. Was he always that lethargic? I wasn't that bothered to get in touch with him, but there was this nagging, worrying feeling I had in the back of my mind that I knew only his reappearance could fix it. It was Friday night, and I had decided to go see Jacob tomorrow, to give him a piece of my mind.

I still didn't get any more clues from the Cullens' residence. A few times I was tempted to just break into the house, but I was certain I would have found nothing, and for some silly reasons, I'd preferred to see the house intact. I was half-expecting a sale sign to be put right outside the driveway, but I had seen nothing of that sort.

Had Edward stayed, this week would have been perfect weather for him since the sun practically didn't show up for the entire week and it had been raining non-stop. I looked outside the window and it was still drizzling. The constant pitter patter rhythm made me sleepy so I put my Merchant of Venice book on the bedside table, switch the light off and snuggled myself inside the converter, missing the cold and hard body that was Edward humming me to sleep.

I didn't know how long I had slept when I was suddenly woken up by a loud 'thud'. The room was dark, and I couldn't see a thing. When I switched the bedside lamp on, I was surprised to see a face right next to me and instinctively I kicked towards the face with my leg that was out of the converter. I knew the kick couldn't have been high enough to hit the face, but it worked because the face was out of my sight and I heard another loud 'thud' and 'crack' followed it. I rubbed my sleepy eyes to see Jacob sprawling bottom down on the floor.

"Damn that hurts!" he muttered with low voice, obviously afraid to wake up Charlie which was snoring in his room.

"Geez, Jacob. Are you trying to scare me to death?" My heart rate must have gone up the scale rapidly, which had not happened since Edward left.

When he didn't answer immediately, I glanced at the alarm clock. It was 11:32.

"What on earth are you doing here, Black?"

"A little help, will ya?" When he gave out his hand to me, I realised that his bottom was actually stuck on the floorboard. I chuckled and helped him to stand up. It was definitely a Kodak moment but at 11:32 in the night I didn't have that much mischief blood running in my system.

"So, what were you intending to do, before you decided to stick your bum on my floor?"

"I didn't decide to stick my bum here, Bell, you _kicked_ me!" He was rubbing his sore bum.

"Sorry if my reaction disappoint you, but did you expect me to shower you with kisses when your scary face showed up unannounced in the middle of the night?"

"A kiss would have been satisfactory."

I rolled my eyes. His bum mustn't have hurt him that bad if he could still crack a joke at my sarcasm like that.

"Do I have to kick your face again, or are you going to tell me?"

"Ouch, Bells. This must be one of the side effects of befriending yourself with a bunch of vampires. You get violent."

"Kick it is then." I pretended to stand, preparing myself for a kick boxing stance a la Lucy Liu. Only that I didn't look at all like Lucy Liu, neither graceful nor strong enough, because my left foot got wrapped around the dangling converter causing me almost landed face first on the floor before Jacob caught me at my waist.

"I will explain, no kick necessary, you'll only hurt yourself anyway." He sat me back on the bed.

"I came here to… well, apologise. Your story kind of shocked me, and I was furious to see you put yourself in harm's way by insisting on being with him…" He saw me I was about to interrupt, and he put one of his palm facing me, stopping me from saying anything. "Wait, let me finish," he said. "I'm your friend so my first impulse is to prevent you from involving yourself in danger. But after a few days of thinking and considering what I could to possibly change your mind, I realise what you need most is a friend who understand. If I can't prevent danger coming to you, well at least I could try and protect you, danger magnet that you are, a health hazard to mostly yourself. So… here I am."

My vision rapidly became hazy as tears threatening to fall from my eyes. "You don't know how much that means to me, Jake." Tears were now falling freely down my cheeks as I let it. "When you disappeared on me for a week, I thought you got upset with me… I thought I would never see you again…"

"Nonsense, Bells. I won't budge, not even when you literally kick me and threw me between your floors." Jacob said, flashing his idiotic grin while wiping the tears on my cheeks with his thumb, making my cheeks moist all over.

"What are you, seriously, a rock? On the battle case between floors and humans, floors win hands down. You just screw their unbeatable record, Jake."

"You did kick me very hard, Swan." Jacob said while glancing back at the damaged floorboard. "I'll have this fixed tomorrow."

I looked at the broken piece of wood, and suddenly something shiny caught my attention. I knelt down to retrieve it, and I almost screamed when I saw what it was. _The CD! My birthday present from Edward!_ I squealed in delight.

"What the heck is that CD doing under there?" Jacob asked.

"Edward must have put it there..." I mumbled, my brain went to overdrive and started analyzing why he had hidden it here. He took it away from me, but he didn't want it with him? He didn't want me to see it, that part was for sure. If he didn't want it, he could have destroyed it, but he didn't. Why did he not want to see it, why did he not want me to have it, and why didn't he just destroy it? Was he planning to come back and retrieve it at later date? When? After I die? A mixed of emotions running through me. I was confused, angry, elated, but most of all for the first time since he left I felt hope and despair at the same time.

I was still blankly staring at the CD when I heard Jacob said, "There are still few more things under here."

I perked up more and helping Jacob retrieving all the stuff from underneath the floorboards. They were the pictures taken from the scrapbook album Renee had given me. When I couldn't find them I thought he had taken it with him so he'd have some memento of me with him.

"Why… why are they hidden here?" I whispered.

"You said Edward must have put them in there." Jacob stated what I just said previously.

"I know… but why? That's odd, don't you think? He said he didn't want me to remember him, so I guess that's why he had taken them away from me. Why didn't he take it with him, or destroy it if he didn't want to see it? And why didn't he want to see it? He didn't want to see me…" I trailed at the end when I couldn't bring myself to think that he didn't want me.

"As much as I want to agree with your line of thinking, I actually had another theory regarding this." Jacob said, while skimming at the photos.

"Let me hear it then." I needed him to say anything to negate what I was feeling then.

"The fact that he left these here, it meant he wasn't quite ready to leave you completely. He wanted to leave things just the way they were. Part of him wanted nothing for you to remember him with, but part of him wanted you to have something to prove his existence in your life, even if it was hidden and out of sight."

I chewed on the idea, and decided he was right. It was the better than any scenario I could conjure up anyway.

"So now that you've convinced me that he's hidden somewhere - not underneath your floorboards, that's for sure – what are we going to do about it?"

I liked it that he said 'we'. I had my partner in crime. I'm Bonnie and he's my Clyde, except that we're not in love, and I hoped we wouldn't end up in bloody situations.

"I don't know, Jake. I've been going over his house to check on his mailbox but have been finding nothing apart from junk mail. Nothing to pinpoint where his hiding place is, I'm afraid."

He tapped my shoulder. "Don't worry, Super Jake is here to help." He pounded his chest like King Kong. "We'll think of something, okay, Bells? In the mean time, I think you should sleep, and I should get out of here before Charlie wakes up and shoot me."

"Yeah. My heart needs to rest from too much excitement for one night, a heart attack was definitely not a good way to wake me up, Jake."

"Sure, sure. I'll come back tomorrow to fix this floor, okay?" A moment later Jacob had disappeared from the window, just the way Edward always did.

"Sure, sure." I said, fluffing my converter that was halfway on the floor, although I knew I wouldn't be able to switch my mind off. I picked up the scattered photos on the floor and put them back into the scrapbook album, reminiscing one photo at a time. By the time I thought I was ready to go to sleep, I put the newly recovered CD on and played my lullaby. I snuggled back inside my converter, whispered my sweet goodnight to Edward, wherever he was. With the background music, I could almost hear the wind whispered Edward's goodnight back to me. It was the first time in weeks that I finally could sleep peacefully.

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**AN: I know it's not a clue yet, but it's something, right? And we're almost there. I get excited when I see reviews, good or bad, so please do! **


	5. Puzzle pieces

**AN: I made a mistake on last chapter which I edited as soon as I remembered yesterday, but I know some of you had read it before I managed to edit it. The mistake was, I didn't include 'ticket' in the things Bella and Jacob found under the floorboards. In line with New Moon, Edward put three things in there: ticket, photos, CD. Exactly those are the ones they found. I didn't purposely exclude ticket, I just forgot to include it. **

**Since I made that mistake, I decided I should make it up to you readers by quickly follow up with another chapter. So here it is. Please forgive me? **

**Disclaimer: Stephenie's, not mine. I just like to have Bella looking for her Edward. Wait, HER Edward? MY Edward. Well, okay, Stephenie's Edward. *sigh*  
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"There you go, Bells. Good as new." Jacob praised his own quick-fix work on my bedroom floor. I had only left him upstairs to do whatever he needed to do a few minutes back, only to finish my washing up and grab him a can of soda from the fridge.

"Thanks Jake, that was quick." I inspected his work. The newly laid piece of wood had a different colour than the rest of them. I liked it that way, as a reminder that Edward had been here somehow.

"If my lady's satisfied, then all your slave need to do is to clean up these saw dusts," Jacob said with mocking manner.

"Oh, shut it, Jake." I ignored him and went downstairs to get a broom and a dustpan. When I came back upstairs, he was looking at the scrapbook album that I had left open on the table.

He looked at me as if asking my permission to browse through, and when I shrugged, he opened another page. I cleaned, he browsed.

"What's this?" Jacob pointed at the ticket that I put at the last page of the scrap book.

"Another birthday present, from Esme. It's a return ticket to see my mom."

"May I?" he asked, before opening the envelope containing the ticket.

"Sure." I nodded.

"_Two_ tickets?"

"For me and Edward, of course."

"Yeah, sure… because God forbid you will bring down the entire airplane full of passengers with you, right?" He was laughing all the way through his sentence. Yeah, mock the clumsy danger magnet.

"Very funny, Jake. You wouldn't be laughing this hard if you're on board the same airplane now, would you?"

"Absolutely." He was still chuckling away looking at my chafed expression. "But hey, it's a waste of money, isn't it? Couldn't you at least change the ticket to my name or something?" he asked, now with more serious tone.

"Why, because you suddenly turned suicidal?" I glared at him.

"Oh, come on, Bells. I was only joking!" He nudged my elbow playfully. He knew I wasn't really mad at him. It's not his fault that peril seemed to stick to me like jam to a doughnut.

"Seriously, though. It's your birthday present, so shouldn't you at least enjoy it? You can still visit your mom. I can come with you."

"That's not a half bad idea, Jake." Visiting Renee could be a good distraction from all this frustrating dead ends. "Is there a number there I could call to change the reservations?" I asked. Jacob scanned through the page and nodded, pointing to a number at the bottom of the page when he handed the tickets to me.

"Let's do it." I said with determined tone, hurrying downstairs with tickets in my hand.

I punched the numbers excitedly. When I went quiet for a notably long time, Jacob nudged me, mouthing 'What's going on', I didn't reply but I sway my head from side to side to say that they put me on hold and I was serenaded by their music. They have Clair de Lune playing. "Oh hello!" The lady had decided to answer my call, ending my daydreaming abruptly.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"Yes. I'd like to change some details on my tickets please, if possible. My reservation number is PX874V…" She asked me to hang on while she ran through those alphanumeric number in the system. When she said she had my details in front of her, she asked if I could give her my date of birth to confirm my identity, and so I did.

"So, Miss Swan, how can I assist you?" She had this fake, put-on polite tone that normally came with most customer service job.

"This ticket is a birthday present, as in I'm not the one who purchased them. I'd like to know if I could change the name of the passenger who's travelling with me, please."

A pause. I could hear her typing furiously in the background like she had more than ten fingers.

"I'm terribly sorry, but the names are unchangeable. The dates are flexible though."

"Oh… well, then, is it refundable?" I asked. Since I was probably not going to use it might as well give the money back to where it belong, I thought.

"It is definitely refundable, and the money will be refunded back to purchaser's credit card account," she said.

"Oh!" A light bulb flickered in my head. I'd like to test if that Cullen house could still receive correspondence at all, or if they had forwarded their mail elsewhere. "Can you send me a confirmation that the ticket has been refunded?"

"Certainly," she said. "Where do you want me to send the confirmation letter? To the customer's address or the billing address?"

_What? They had different addresses?_ "Which is which?" I asked nervously.

"The customer's address is the one at Forks, Washington, whilst the billing address is the one in New York."

"New York, New York?"

"Yes, Mam." _She called me Mam?_

"Could you give me the address to the one in New York city please?"

"I'm sorry, Mam, but the New York address is a part of the credit card's credentials, so I could not divulge that details to you since you're not the credit card's holder."

_Damn it._ I was so close. "Uh… hmm, in that case,… could you just refund one of the tickets, and keep mine? Can I change the destination?" Jacob looked at me with wide, confused eyes and I ignored him since I was concentrating in digesting this new information and its implications.

"Certainly." I could hear fingers were working full-speed again at the keyboard.

"Where do you want me to send the confirmation letter to the cancelled ticket, Mam?" she asked.

"Could you send to both addresses, please?" I could still check if the letter would reach the house in Forks, at least. I couldn't believe I didn't think of sending a letter myself to that address. The other letter, well it would reach this mystery address in New York. I wondered if it would somehow reach them.

"Now for your ticket, where do you want to fly instead, Miss Swan?"

"New York." I answered firmly. Then we went ahead discussing dates, and she assured me that they're still changeable. I asked her to send the new ticket to my home address, no confirmation letter necessary.

After I said 'Thank you' and she said 'Have a good day', I hung up the phone.

"So?" Jacob prodded.

"So… they couldn't change the names. I asked her to refund Edward's ticket and change mine to New York instead."

"What!? Why do you want to do that? At least you could still go visit your mom." He scoffed incredulously.

I went silent for a while, and then answered, "My mind was totally consumed by Edward when I was put on hold on the phone, and half way through the conversation with her, I suddenly realised it would supposed to be a getaway trip for me and Edward. Now that he's not here, well, I don't really want to go any more. Not without him."

"Why New York, of all places?"

"Because, Jacob Black, that's where we're going to put our puzzle pieces together. The Finding Edward project. If you still want to come with me, that is."

"Of course. Tell me when and I'll be there."

"We'll just have to book your ticket to match mine, book the hotel, then we'll be all set."

"And where exactly in New York are we going to go to?"

"That, I don't know yet. I'm still trying to figure that out."

"What _do_ you know so far?"

"Not much, only that their credit card's billing address is in New York. That fake- accented lady wouldn't give me any more information than that."

"Can't blame her. Credit card details, they come with 'confidential' with big red stamps marked all over them."

I was still trying to separate the puzzle pieces in my head, finding the corners, collecting the similar colours together, that sort of stuff, analogically, when Jacob suddenly sprang up on his feet and said, "You know what's not so confidential though?"

I shot up looking at him. His eyes were sparkled with excitement. "Car registration details. I bet I could look up his car registration and get the address."

I was not that pleased. I didn't know why he was so excited about this. "Great plan, Jake, now I just have one problem with that. I don't remember the number."

"Oh, but I do." He nodded animatedly, sounding so proud of himself.

"You know the Volvo's plate number?" I shrieked.

"No," he quickly replied. "But I know his Aston Martin's. I remember feeling jealous at him for having such a fabulous car when I saw it parked outside your school after I saw you at prom. I remember I wanted to test drive that slick car. I was so obsessed, I even did some research in the internet about that car. That particular model, that particular year. I can remember _everything _about that car, license plate included."

"You know the Aston Martin's plate number?" I shrieked again.

"Absolutely," he said smugly.

"Oh, Jake! I don't know what I'd do without you!" I flung my arms around his torso to give him a hug.

"When are we leaving?" he asked.

"Thanksgiving break."

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**AN: So now you know why excluding the tickets was such a big blunder. Doh! I probably need a beta. Not that I know how to find one. Do you just approach any beta available from the list and say "Hey do you want to be my beta?" Hm.. sounds like a marriage proposal. I dread the commitment. I could also ask my friend to proof-read it, I suppose.**

**Shout out to chlark4, the ONLY one who reviewed the previous chapter, you made my day, always. One is better than none, eh? *****sigh* ****Though there was only one review, it motivated me enough to write more. Big thank you!  
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** Thanks to those who put my story on your favourite and/or alert list. Thanks to all of you who read this story, now if you could just drop me a line of review saying you like/dislike it, that would be nice. Pretty please...?  
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	6. Friendship Fallouts

**AN: Sorry for taking longer to update this time. I had half of it done a week back, but wasn't quite happy with it.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie owns everything.**

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We came to the end of October, and the Halloween night brought an even colder weather to Forks. A few days ago the road was icy. It reminded me to that day when that cursed Tyler's van almost crushed me to death. I wouldn't be here today if Edward didn't decide to save me, against his crude instincts. I tried to savor little things like that to remind me of his love. The task that I found sometime challenging with Mike, Eric and Tyler constantly hovering over me, trying to fill Edward's absence. It was suddenly a 'who can date Bella' competition between them. If I said no to one, the other two would appear smug, and the cycle was endless. Mike had a slight advantage since I worked at his store. He just wouldn't stop bugging me at work. The three of them put together was enough to suffocate me to the point that I almost decided to take a break from school altogether. In fact, I almost decided on doing so, several times. Jacob didn't help the matter. He was just as eager as I was to go on this oncoming trip. Every time I said "Why don't we just quit school for a while and go already?", he'd say "Hell yeah, Bella, best idea ever. When do we leave?". Then I'd feel guilty, because finding Edward was _my_ mission, and shouldn't affect his studies, so I told him it's not a good idea to just pack up and leave, and I would just train myself to focus on Thanksgiving break, when I could get myself closer to finding Edward.

True to his words, Jacob had found details on Edward's Vanquish. It was in fact registered under his name, with a New York address too. I felt like I had found another piece of the puzzle. I was hoping that for all practical purposes, the family had this one or maybe more fixed address to register their properties and belongings, including Edward's Vanquish. It was tedious enough to keep changing their driver's licenses, passports, and so on, and moving addresses were another nuisance. They regularly moved every five years or so, maybe this was their way to minimise problems such as re-registering number plates. God knows how many cars they had in total!

I had looked over the address countless of times, that I could even recite it perfectly in my dreams. My dreams were all about this mission. A number of times I had Edward just within my reach, with his back facing me, only to evaporate in smoke a moment later before I could alert him to my presence, like some kind of a magic show.

According to Google Map, the address was an apartment building on 5th Avenue, overlooking the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir near Central Park. There were a few galleries and museum near the area. Obviously a posh location, something a Cullen could easily afford. However, I thought they kept themselves well away from human civilisation, so living in downtown New York was obviously against that principle.

When I told Charlie that I was going for a vacation with Jake to New York, he was more than pleased with the idea. He didn't even question where we were going to stay, or if we were staying in the same room. I couldn't help wondering if he would still the same approving look on his face had it been Edward who was going with me. As a matter of fact, we were going to share a room at Franklin Hotel, three blocks away from the aforementioned address. It was inevitable due to the combination of the peak holiday season and our limited budget. I booked their cheapest room which was also on special rate, but that was all I could afford. I couldn't ask Jake to pay for his own room, so he just had to share a room with me. Charlie didn't question it so I guess that was fine.

I kept thinking about other things I could prepare ourselves before departure. I decided against renting a vehicle, since it would be obnoxiously expensive, and surely we could rent there on the spot if necessary. I still needed to have some extra cash handy in case of, well, anything really. I had even told Jake to get himself a passport, just in case we needed it. I asked him if he had any friend or relative in New York area, since I had none, to which he said his community was pretty much restricted to La Push area. His sisters were no help either being located in Washington State and Hawaii.

The Cullen's Forks address was certainly still valid, since I could still receive the confirmation letter I sent via the travel agent. That was good to know, at least the address was still functional and the house was still theirs, maybe for an eternity.

As I stocked the last mosquito repellant spray on the shelf, I saw that constant-hovering shadow behind me. Not mine, but Mike's.

"Hey Bella, is that the last one today?"

If he had been observing me like he had been since I walked in that front door, he would have known the answer was a yes. I replied regardless with a weak smile.

"Yes, it was." Then I tried yet again to evade the scene and walked towards the cashier to busy myself there.

"It has been very slow today, why don't we finish off early so we can get ready to go to that Jessica's party tonight?"

_What Jessica's party? Oh, you mean the Halloween party she's organising at her house which she thinks I know nothing about? _

"No, Mike. Obviously I'm not invited."

Since Edward left, Jessica had been blatantly ignoring me and excluding me in all social gathering. Not that I was ever interested in them, anyway. What I didn't like was all the rumors she spread. Edward broke up with Bella and on holiday in Hawaii. She was the reason that we broke up. Edward went away to give us some 'space'. Edward phone-sexed her every night. I was never good enough for Edward. Well that one was true, at least.

The only friends in school who had stuck by me was the three musketeers – Mike, Tyler and Eric, and Angela.

"Come on, Bella. She can't say anything if you come with me. I'd really love it if you can come with me."

"Tempting, but no." _Not ever._ "I have other plan, unfortunately." Actually I did, Jake said he'd come for dinner. It was the least I could do. He and Charlie had been doing shifts in chauffeuring me every where since my truck was apparently still a dead-o at Jacob's.

Fortunately for me, around that time, the two customers that had been standing and debating among themselves around the tent area approached us with their purchases.

"In any case," the taller one said to the other, "we should delay our future camping around here until we can confirm that there was indeed no black bear. The weather isn't much help either."

"Bears, you said?" Mike asked, getting attention from both the patrons. "There are no bears around here."

"I know a bear when I see one…" mumbled the taller one.

I scanned their purchases and put them in a big plastic bag. As I watched them leaving, I saw Jacob's car parked in front of the store.

"Mike, are you sure about finishing off early?" I asked.

"Sure. I…"

"I'll see you tomorrow, then! Have fun at the party!" With that, I ran towards the door. It was drizzling and Jake had not even stopped the engine when I opened his passenger's door.

Jacob chuckled. "Eager, are we?"

"From escaping Mike the peeve? Always. Quick!" I motioned him to go. "Before he could chase us."

"Where do you want to go?" Jacob asked.

"Home, away from here, away from Jessica's party, anywhere."

"Jessica's party?'

"Yeah. A Halloween costume party. I'm not invited so don't even bother asking."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because apparently she's now Edward's girl and she's the reason why we broke up."

"Huh? Say what?"

"I know. Ugh!" I threw my punch to the air. "I wish Edward's here to defend himself from these high school gossips!" At least I could make fun of him being so irritated with Jessica.

"Did she say he's going to be there?"

"Who? There where?"

"Edward. At her party."

"Why would he?" I asked incredulously.

"You said he's her new boyfriend, right? Shouldn't he come to his girlfriend's party?" He gave me this dubious look. He believed her?

"Come on Jake. I know you know she knows nothing about him."

"You're prepared to go as far as bloody New York but don't want to go to her party to check it out?"

"There's absolutely no way – "

"You don't know that."

"Of course I do."

We stopped talking for a while. Jacob was just being silly. But to think that Edward would be at Jessica's party was both invigorating and depressing. Invigorating because suddenly there was a minute possibility that he's so near. Depressing because that minute, infinitesimal possibility was unquestionably non-existent. The realisation frustrated me even more. I wished he was there, but he wasn't. I could even trade him being an item with Jessica if I could have him that near.

"You know I'm joking, right?" Jake broke the silence. We had reached my house and the engine had been off. I didn't know how long it had been, but the car windows were foggy.

When he didn't hear my reply, he asked, "Are you upset that you're not invited?"

"No. I actually prefer her distancing herself from me. I just loathe the malicious rumors she's spreading about."

"At least you still have Angela." He pointed out.

True. Before I had time to respond, he added, "I don't even know my best friend anymore."

"Who? Me?" What is he saying?

"Not you. Sorry. I meant best _guy_ friend. Emphasis on guy. You _are_ my best friend. I meant Embry."

"What's up with him?" That's odd, he usually couldn't stop talking about Embry and Quil and their newest projects.

"He's just… well, unreachable for most part, and when he is around, he… I think he avoids me. Quil knows nothing about him either. It's just… strange."

Apparently I wasn't the only one losing a friend. Was this a trend or something? "Maybe he's just sorting out his own problem, Jake. He'll come around."

"I'm sure he's avoiding us, Bells. I just knew it. He's bonding a lot with Sam now. The La Push gang, remember?"

"Why is that such a bad thing? Maybe…" I ran out of excuses for someone I barely knew.

"He didn't like him, Bells, just like I do. I lose him. I lose him to Sam. I just don't know him anymore, he's so distant and different, like he doesn't want to have anything to do with me." His eyes were suddenly filled with concerns.

"I don't think it's something you did, Jake." I rubbed the back of his hand which was resting on the gear stick.

"Yeah, but what if… what if I become their next recruit, another member to the gang? I don't like them, Bella."

"Then you won't. No one is forcing you to, okay? You will become no one else but yourself. You're my friend and I like you this way. Who cares about being in a gang?"

He closed his eyes and I could still see the tensions beneath his eyelids, but when he opened his eyes a few seconds later, he revealed nothing but appreciation and relief.

"Thanks, Bells. I'll always be your friend, too. Who cares about a stupid costume party?"

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**AN: I know this is New Moon AU, but I don't want it to stray far from it. In the sense, most things that happened in New Moon would still happen, it's just happened in different time frame, etc. I don't want to go against 'fate'. :D**

**Next update: New York! I've never been there, seriously. Yeah I like to challenge myself like that. God help me.  
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**More reviews would inspire me to update faster!  
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	7. Leaving on a Jet Plane

**AN: Sorry for the slow update. Lack of motivation combined with my love-hate with the old laptop. I've got a new one just last weekend, so hopefully it would bring my motivation level up a bit. :D **

**Disclaimer: Do I still have to do this? It's obviously Stephenie's, not mine. **

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There was no other words that woke me up instantly other than the ones I just heard. It was Charlie's, and the words were "We're late!" I was too excited to sleep last night that I decided to stay up but I must have fallen asleep at some point since I obviously was late waking up this morning. Of all the days, I chose the day that I was supposed to go to New York to wake up late! Luckily Jake slept overnight downstairs on the couch in anticipation of the early flight this morning. Quick glance at the clock told me I had only under 3 hours to get ready and reach the airport. Definitely no time even for a quick shower, and I might have to beg Charlie to fly his cruiser instead of driving it!

I quickly went to the toilet, which was fortunately unoccupied, brushed my teeth and put my clothes on. I had packed and repacked uncountable times last night, so hopefully I would have packed everything I and Jake needed for this trip.

After five attempts to wake Jake up, a glass of water to splash on his face, a few yelling and cussing on his part and a nail-biting, over-speeding trip to Seattle airport in Charlie's cruiser, we were finally checked in. Before we went through the security checks, I even had time to say proper goodbye to Charlie. He had parked his cruiser while we waited in the check-in line. I felt guilty to leave Charlie alone during Thanksgiving, when it was supposed to be all about getting together with loved ones, sharing and being thankful of one another. He understood my feelings and he indirectly told me not to worry about him and to have fun. He didn't exactly say that, he only said "TV will get me occupied" and "The Clearwaters invited me for dinner." I knew better what he meant deep down. I replied in similar way, I told him I had cooked and frozen a few meals for dinner for him and packed them in airtight containers, a meal in each one. He wouldn't have to cook for the week that I was gone. All he needed to do was to defrost them. I was going to explain in details just how to do that, when Charlie shushed me by giving me another hug and walked me to the security gate.

I could tell Jacob couldn't wait until he could stretch himself and back to sleepy land again. I didn't know how much he slept last night, but judging by how reluctant he was to wake up this morning, and that he slept all the way from Forks to Seattle airport, I guessed not much. And a soporific Jacob was an irritable one, like a grumpy old man. He was whining at the long queue we had at the security check, then another grumble when he realised he wouldn't have time to have breakfast before we boarded the plane. I didn't realise how hungry I was myself until he mentioned food.

"Can I just quickly grab a burger, Bell? I promise I'd be quick."

"Keep running, Jake. Didn't you see our flight status? It said 'Final Call'" In flashing red too. "Please hurry up. They'll give us something on the plane." Besides, he would have to stand in another queue to order his burger. We got this far, I wouldn't let him make me miss this flight.

His reply was another set of grumbles, but he complied and kept his pace next to me.

We were the last people to walk through the boarding gate, and only by the time we were asked for our boarding passes by the nice looking lady at the door of the plane, that it dawned on me: I wouldn't be sitting next to Jake. The two boarding passes on her hand had different numbers.

"Jake? Stop, stop!" I alerted Jake who kept walking on the aisle.

"Come on, Bells. Let's just get to our seats so I can get some more sleep."

"That's where the problem is. _This_ is where I'm sitting."

Jake looked very confused and still irritable. "Nice try, Bells. I'm in no mood to joke around at the moment. Shall we?" He pointed his head towards the other end of the airplane, hurrying me up.

"Jake. Look." I walked up to him and show my boarding pass. I positioned my forefinger right where the seat number was printed. He looked dubious at first, then looked up to the numbers printed above the seats.

"Right. Perfect." Finally he spoke mockingly. I could hear he grumbled "annoying loaded vampire boyfriend" under his breath when he walked away. I grimaced towards our audience, the whole airplane full of passengers and crew who were just waiting for these two last idiots to be seated.

As soon as I sat on my allocated seat and buckled myself on, I threw my head back on the seat and closed my eyes, silently thankful feeling how comfortable and snuggle my seat was. When I opened my eyes, the nice lady that greeted me on the door previously was on my view.

"Would you like something to drink?" She said this while handing me a warm towel. _Nice_.

"A glass of water would be nice." As soon as she mentioned drink, I did feel very thirsty. "With ice, please." I added.

Feeling of that ice water flowing down my throat, I knew it was exactly what I needed. I couldn't help sighing of contentment.

It was then I heard a faint chuckle.

I opened my eyes and looked around to find the source of that noise, and I didn't have to look that far. It was a man, around a few years older than me, for sure, and he was blocked by the stewardess lady so I didn't see him earlier, but he was sitting right across the aisle from me, and had this silly grin that reminded me of Jacob's, and it was less annoying coming from Jacob because I knew Jacob. It gave me the opposite effect when the silly grin directed at me came from a complete stranger.

"Excuse me?" I snapped at him. "What's so amusing?"

"You." He chuckled even louder, obviously entertained by my vexation.

I glared at him but decided he wasn't worth the provocation. "Fine. Chuckle away."

"Excuse me, Miss." I heard him alerted the air-stewardess that passed by us. "Can I have a glass of water too? With ice, please."

I looked towards the exchange disbelievingly. _Is he mocking me now? _

He then took the water, thanking the lady politely and when the lady went away, I could see him more clearly. After glancing at me to make sure he had my full attention, he closed his eyes and slowly taking in the water until the last drop, as if it was the last he was going to have, ever. Then he licked his lips thoroughly, top and bottom, and then sighed contentedly. When he opened his eyes, they were blue, sparkling with excitement.

"You're absolutely right," he said, still holding my eyes to his. "They must put something in the water here. That was the most thirst quenching water I've ever had." He ended his production with a wink, which made my eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

I couldn't take anymore of his travesty, so I decided to give him a piece of my mind. "Look, Mister," I snapped my finger at him, "I understand making fun of people is probably what you do at daily basis, but we do not know each other and I find your remarks utterly belittling. And I happen to believe that a man who belittles others has humongous problem in certain part of their body that is... little."

His reaction was not what I expected. He kept his facade calm and smiled, not the least bothered by my insult. In fact he still looked amused and... satisfied?

"I think you misunderstood my intention. I was not in any way plotting to belittle you. In fact, I found you fascinating. I traveled first class regularly and not once I had seen anyone requested for water. Beer, champagne, wine, soda, were regulars. I saw a kid that asked for milk, once, but water? Never. And your expression while drinking it, it was... engrossing, to put it lightly. I simply had to try it for myself."

He paused, maybe calculating my response. I didn't know what to make of his speech.

"I guess I made bad first impression on you. I'm truly sorry. Let me start over. My name is Ken." He offered his hand to me, with his eyes repentant, so I decided he deserve the truce.

"Bella." I shook his hand, and he looked relieved.

"Such a fitting name," he mumbled. "So Bella," his eyes twinkled again with the same excitement I saw before. "No witty come back on my name?"

I shrugged. "I imagine you must have countless of first acquaintances humoring you with questions like 'So how's Barbie?' or 'How's the house in Malibu?' , it must be ha ha boring by now, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm flattered that people see the resemblance between me and that perfect male doll."

"Not so perfect anymore, he got dumped by the perfect girlfriend, remember?"

"No way, _I_ dumped _her_. I'm a proficient lawyer, so I got everything, the house, the boat, the island, the whole lot, as long as I keep my mouth shut about the whole agreement."

"It's a bad thing you're telling me, then?"

"Well I'll just have to keep you so you won't tell on me. Easy." Was it possible that his smile was even bigger than before?

"Fortunately for me, I'm taken."

He frowned while avoiding my gaze and playing with the empty cup on his hands. He twirled it around, balancing it on the other hand. "I saw that," he said afterwards.

"You saw what?"

"You're not wearing a ring, so he's not your husband or fiancé yet, I suppose. But that guy who's sitting at the back of the airplane... he's your boyfriend, I take it."

Oh. He thought I was taken by Jake. "Very perceptive, but wrong on one account. Jake is not my boyfriend."

I suddenly realised how sad this situation was. Here I was, sitting on first class cabin, and sitting where Edward was supposed to be was a gorgeous man who obviously didn't bother hiding his attraction to me. Jealous Edward would have killed him. Poor Ken. No, poor me. I wanted my jealous Edward. Here. Now.

"He's not?" Ken's excitement brought me back from my reverie.

I shook my head no. "He's just a friend. A friend who's helping me to... get back to my boyfriend."

"Huh? A complicated relationship?" He asked. When I nodded, he said, "Say no more on the subject. I don't want to know. I have my own share of complicated relationships, and I can understand how private those can be."

"Thank you for being so understanding, Ken. I guess you're not so bad after all."

"Hey, putting up with a dumb blondie for so long must make me the most understanding guy on earth." I laughed at his Barbie joke. The guy must know a million of them.

"Oh, you're so bitter. I bet you're kicking yourself for giving up all the sex from her and that perfect body she has."

"Ha! As if I got any when I was officially hers. The girl got so many occupancies and friends to look after. I got stuck at home babysitting the dog,... I mean _dogs_, most of the time."

This Ken guy sure could crack jokes. He sounded like Ken – the Barbie's ex himself. He looked like him too, well one version of him, I suppose. I recalled there were so many different versions of Ken dolls too, just like there were so many different versions of Barbie's.

Having Ken as a companion in this long flight helped subsiding the anxiety, potential boredom and fatigue. He was pretty easy to talk to, non-judgmental and had a very laid-back attitude to life. He was 5 years older than me, and practicing law, which was pretty much his chosen career path since he was practically a baby. His grandfather was a lawyer, his father was a lawyer, and since he was little he had wanted nothing else but being a lawyer. He owned two apartments, one in New York and another in Los Angeles and had never heard of a town named Forks before. I told him I was a student there, and that I was a virgin in flying first class, and under normal circumstances I wouldn't have been able to afford it. He was surprised when he learned I was a student, he thought I was way older than my actual age. He quickly tried to recover worrying he had thrown another insult at me, when I just dismissed it saying that was a normal response from people and assured him that he had not offended me. We even shared our meals. I gave him half of my beef stroganoff, and in exchange I had half of his chicken noodle.

When we were waiting for Jacob to come out of the plane – well, I was waiting for Jacob, Ken said he was just bored and preferred to wait with me – he asked, "So where are you going to stay in New York? Don't be compelled to answer if it's a privacy infringement." He did sound like a lawyer just then.

"We'll be staying in a hotel. Franklin Hotel." I remembered everything I needed to do by heart.

"You mean the one near Park Avenue? On east side, right? I live very near to that area, why don't I drive you there?"

I wanted to say yes immediately, because I already calculated the taxi fare from the airport to the hotel would be expensive, but I just met him and I didn't want to trouble him. "Are you sure, Ken? I don't wish to impose on you."

"Ridiculous. I live just a few blocks away. It would be absurd and non-gentleman of me to let you go by taxi."

"Okay then. Thanks in advance, Ken."

"Don't mention it." He took out his wallet from his trousers' back pocket. He quickly fished a card, took a pen from his shirt's front pocket, scribbled some numbers on the back of the card and handed to me.

"This is my business card, on the back is my private cell number. I'll be in New York for a month this time, and maybe more. Please call me anytime if you need help, sight-seeing companion or just wanting to hear my voice again. I sure would want to hear your voice again, Bella."

I thanked him again and put the card safely on my wallet. "I'll keep that in mind," I promised him.

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**AN: This Ken character was a surprise, even for me. I did not plan this. I know I need another character but I didn't plan to introduce that character this early in the story. At this point I think I need to remind everyone that I'm 100% Team Edward. **

**I have solid plans on what's going ahead in New York, but I am open to suggestion if people are interested. Also, where would you like Bella to go next, and why? The definite places that I want her to visit are Denali and somewhere in Texas. PM/review, let me know. If you just want to motivate me, that's certainly welcome too. :D **

**Big thanks to those who reviewed, faved, and reading this story.  
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	8. No, no, Italiano

**AN: Whoaa.. you should all kill me for the longest time to update, ever! Sorry for the delay, but I really haven't been touching my laptop apart from just quickly checking email for about a month. Been very busy, but I should be able to update more regularly from now on. More reviews would prompt faster update ;) - Seriously, it's the only way I know if I'm doing the right thing by keep writing the story.  
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**Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer but I thought that's pretty obvious.**

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The skeptical look on Jacob's face and his frown concerning my newly acquired friend vanished the second Jacob saw Ken's car. Because it was... black? I only got past the name and model of the car, which was Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S. I must admit that it was very sleek and luxurious, but didn't share Jacob's level of excitement. I immediately suggested him to take the front seat. I only mentioned it because it looked like Jacob was contemplating in asking to drive the car instead.

I fell asleep almost straight away, while Jacob and Ken drowned themselves in animated discussion about the car's engine. They threw in words like rpm, power, speed, but most of the words I thought weren't even English. The last thing that was on my mind before I fell asleep was that the interior of this car reminded me of Edward's Vanquish, and that somehow put a smile on my face.

"Bell, wake up..." I heard Jacob's voice and his hand shook my body in attempt to wake me up.

I squinted my eyes at the direct sunlight on my face. It wasn't that bright since it was filtered by the dark tinted window, but it took a while for my pupils to adjust to the brightness.

"We're here," Ken informed. "And my apartment is just a couple of blocks away that way," he pointed out the right direction. "You both are welcome to intrude anytime. Can I have any of your number so I can text you my address?"

"Sorry, Ken. None of us have one of those carry on telephone thingy. But I'll call you from the hotel."

"The carry on telephone thingy?" Ken asked incredulously, shaking his head. I could hear a chuckle coming out as he spoke, "It's called a mobile phone, my dear, and what kind of archaic prehistoric town are you guys from? What do you guys do for communication? Cups and strings?"

I just laughed at his yet again another attempt of mockery at me. I never felt the need to have a mobile phone. Now that I thought of it, would Edward have tried to call me had I have one?

"Any chance in test driving this car?" Jacob asked in jovial manner, but I knew he was hoping Ken would say yes.

"No one touches my baby," Ken warned with similar tone while lightly stroking the dashboard, but I can also sense the seriousness behind his words. Boys.

Ken helped me and Jacob getting our luggages from the trunk, and he directed me to the front door of the hotel.

When I saw him kept walking with us to the lobby, I asked, "You're coming in with us?"

"I'll just make sure you're checked in and all that with no problem, then I'll leave."

Jacob muttered quickly, "Ha, you just want to know our room number so you could hassle us anytime."

"I was left with no other means of communication, considering how technologically challenged you both are," Ken pointed out.

Jacob was about to counter argue, when Ken shut him up saying, "It's the only way to arrange for a tour around the city on _my baby_."

"Actually, if you're not busy today, we can go today itself, how about it, Bella?" Jacob looked very anxious to get inside the fancy car again.

"You both go ahead. I have somewhere else I'd need to go," I replied purposely looking intently at Jacob's eyes. I couldn't believe he forgot the reason we're in this most populous city of the United States.

"Ah, shoot. You and your stupid project..." Jacob frowned while his plan on getting to know the fancy car better went out of the window.

"Honestly, Jake. You can go. I can do this all by myself."

"No way, Bells, I pledged my help and here I am in this together. Sorry, Ken, we'd just have to do it some other time."

"Room 306, that is upstairs on the third floor," said the lady by the desk while handing in our room keys and then explaining about the breakfast in the morning.

Ken came with us waiting by the elevator. "I'll let you both settle in your room then. I shall call you later. Dinner, perhaps?"

"Sure, Ken," Jacob replied. "That would be lovely."

The elevator door opened and we went inside, waving goodbye to Ken. As soon as the door closed on us again, I elbowed Jake's ribs.

"Ouch!" Were his ribs made of steel?

"What was that for?" Jacob didn't even need to rub his ribs while I rubbed my painful elbow.

"You just got yourself a dinner date with the fancy car. You're so easy, Jake! And you almost forgot what we're here for!"

"Yeah, can you blame me though? It was beautiful. You can't even hear the purr of the engine yet it so powerful..."

"Just remember we just met him and we can't trust anyone."

"You're the one who accepted a lift from a stranger."

"I was doing that to save taxi money."

"In the expense of dangering your own life?"

"Says the guy who's drooling over the stranger danger's fancy car!"

"Okay, stop... stop. I'm sorry I was partially blinded by the car, so what's the plan for today?"

I shrugged since I really had no plan except to check out the address that I could recite even in my dream.

*

"But please, Sir. We just want to know who lives in that apartment."

"For the fiftieth time today, young lady, that information is also strictly confidential."

I had been arguing with this elderly doorman who spoke with a thick Italian accent for almost an hour. I was surprised he still had not called police or security. I guessed we weren't threatening enough to warrant such measures. He was probably bored out of his mind and this banter between us was entertaining him while frustrating me. I told him that the address was an old friend's address. He asked the name and I provided all the names I could think of but he kept shaking his head. He was very friendly though and now he was even playing chess with Jake while I was raking my brain trying to figure out what else I could say to make him at least let me see the front door of the apartment. Yes, I was that desperate. If Jacob was at least trying harder to beat him at chess and distract him, I could possibly make my way to the elevator unnoticed. Unfortunately Jake wasn't that brilliant in chess.

After losing five quick rounds of chess with Maurizio the doorman, Jacob persuaded me to go back to the hotel. I complied because I knew how grumpy Jake could be when he's hungry. As soon as we got to the room, Jake phoned his new best buddy slash fancy car owner to arrange a dinner date. He mentioned wanted to have dinner as far away from the city as possible, in an attempt to have a prolonged time with the car. Ken had been expecting our call so it took him no time to pick us up. Actually it took him less time to pick us up than the time it took for us to come down to the lobby.

When Ken asked what type of food we'd like to have, I blurted "Italian" since I was frustrated with one. I quickly added "_inexpensive_ Italian". The last thing I needed was a kaboom in my already thinning wallet.

Jake was absolutely thwarted when he realised that it took us under five measly minutes to reach the restaurant called Bella Luna, even with a scenic roundabout route around the Central Park. Ken chuckled when he saw the unsatisfied look on Jake's face and promised to take us to a longer tour around the city after dinner. He was really being a good host, considering New York wasn't even his home town.

Ken must have been a regular in this restaurant, because as soon as he caught the hostess' attention, he just held up three fingers to indicate the number of people dining, then with exaggerated hospitality, extra pearly white smile and added winks, she immediately directed us to our table.

During the course of our dinner, Ken and Jake kept throwing Barbie and blondie jokes trying to outdo each other's, while I sat inattentively picking at my meal, forcing down a spoon or two. I was still disappointed that I didn't get any progress despite making the effort and spending a lot of money to come here. It was going to be a nonproductive trip after all. I'd achieve conclusively and exactly nothing whatsoever, I thought as I sighed again staring at my tri-coloured tortellini which had now turned cold.

I heard Ken trying hard to recover from his own catchy laugh to come up with yet another joke. "Have you... have you heard of this one? Why did the blonde stare at the orange juice carton?"

"No,... never..." Jacob was already started laughing even before Ken delivered his punch line. His laugh was indeed very catchy. I even started to smile.

"Because... it said 'concentrate'!" With that, they both started howling and bang their hands and heads at the table, and I giggled silently, not because of the silly joke, but for the sight of two men laughing tears at a mere blonde joke.

"So the lady has decided to join us," said Ken after he recovered from his laughing fit. "That's better. Why so glum anyway?"

"Let's just say her project didn't go as well as she had planned," Jake replied, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Anything I could do to help?" Ken's voice emitted genuine interest.

"I don't know. Can you distract an elderly Italian doorman?" I sighed again and when the waiter asked if he could clear out our table I asked him to take mine too, because I was in no mood to eat anymore.

Ken raised his eyebrows. "I sure know a trick or two. Would you want me to try?"

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**AN: This is Edward x Bella story for a reason. Although I don't like changing POV hence we won't be hearing from Edward until towards the end of the story, it's still an Edward-Bella story. Just imagine they're in an.. um... long distance one-way relationship. heh heh. **

**Things that will never happen: Jacob x Bella / OC x Bella. Will. Never. Happen. **


	9. Nina Bella

**Disclaimer: Why would I publish it here if it's mine? Obviously it's Stephenie's. **

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I spent the next half an hour describing Maurizio the doorman in intricate detail to Ken. All his antics, his chess moves, and all my personal behavioural observations. Jacob would chime in once in a while with his own, but Ken was mostly quiet, listening and nodding himself away.

"So... do you think you can help me?"

"Well... tomorrow's Thanksgiving, in case you haven't noticed. I have a little family gathering that I had to attend, but that's not until the afternoon for lunch. I could meet you at the hotel bright and early in the morning while we discuss... strategy. I will bring... reinforcement."

"What? No reinforcement necessary." I said, with a final tone. I didn't want this to possibly leak. I couldn't trust anyone.

"Trust me. The reinforcement is absolutely necessary and will be the key to our success. The only problem now is to get this reinforcement to help us. It won't be easy on short notice, but I shall try. You should be thankful that it's Thanksgiving, you know."

"Why?"

"Well, I can't say anything before I could get this reinforcement. You do trust me, right? I won't put any of you in danger." I must have still had this doubtful expression on my face because Ken followed up by saying, "Jake, back me up here. You trust me, right?"

"Bell, we should give it a shot. What other chance do we have?" Well, when he said it like that...

*

The next morning, Ken rang the hotel room happily informing that he was already on the way.

Around half an hour later, we were waiting in the hotel lobby for him and his reinforcement. He was being very secretive about it, and I was never good with surprises so it slightly put me on the edge. My only consolation was that I was going to find out about it soon anyway.

Nothing prepared me to see the person who was walking holding on to Ken's hand. A little person, in fact, no more than five year old, surely.

"Jacob, Bella, I want you to meet my niece, Antonina." Then he knelt down to speak on eye level with Antonina. "Antonina, these are my friend Jacob and Bella."

She brightened up with the last word that Ken said. "Bella is my middle name. Are you Italian, too?"

I shook my head no. I was still speechless to utter even a single word. He brought a little girl? A little Italian girl? Italian? Is Ken...?

"Are you?" I asked Ken, still with limited vocabulary.

"Yes, I am. I'm a Martini. I know. Go ahead and laugh at it. Nina is my sister's daughter, she has a different surname. You can ask her."

Without me asking, Antonina had started talking chirpily. "Antonina Bella Ranieri."

"And she's bilingual, as good as I'm speaking in both Italian and English, right, Nina Bella?"

I could tell she liked her pet name since she brightened up even more and said proudly, "Yes. Si. Parli Italiano?"

"Did she just ask me if I speak Italian?" This was the first time I saw a bilingual kid, and she looked 100% Italian when speaking in Italian and yet 100% American when speaking in English. How odd was that?

Ken nodded, and I awkwardly brought myself lower to her eye level. "No, Nina Bella, I'm not Italian nor can I speak Italian. My name is Isabella Swan, but you can call me Bella."

"Swan, eh? Did we just learn each other's surnames this morning? While we're at it, what's yours, Jake?"

"Black. Jacob Black." He said like the way James Bond would say his name, so Ken laughed at him, which triggered Nina's adoring, cackling laugh.

"So... Bella and Jake here needs our help, Nina Bella. Do you think we should help them?"

"Only if I get that gelati you promised."

"Two scoops."

"Three with biscotti." She said that with tapping her foot on the floor once, holding up the right number of fingers.

Ken widen his eyes, pretended to be surprised, but he quickly reassured her, "Last offer. Three scoops of Elaine's gelati, with three pieces of biscotti."

Her eyes twinkled with excitement and anticipation. "Deal!" With that, they did their special handshake sequence with a pinky shake first, dancing thumbs, tangled arms which ended with a firm, normal handshake, then Ken surprised her with a tickle. The whole exchange gave me a slight nausea. I was never a fan of babies or little kids, and neither was Renee. Being an only child all my life didn't make me long for little brother or sister of my own. I wanted a larger family, a sense of belonging to other people. Someone's daughter, someone's niece, someone's grand-daughter, someone's cousin, someone's... family. I only had Charlie and Renee from the beginning, and that was it. When I was small, whenever I felt lonely sometimes I imagined talking to my teddies, referring them as my long lost cousins. Sure, I had a few friends, but they lacked that sense of belonging that I craved.

I realised that I didn't only miss Edward but the whole of his family. In the short time that I had known them – with the exception of one, Rosalie – they had been very accepting despite the obvious difference between us: me the prey and them the predator. They were like the family I never had. It satisfied that craving. Close-knitted as they were, it was like buy one get all of them for free. In consequence, lose one and forfeit the rest of them. All or none.

"Bella? Did you hear what I say?" I heard that tiny voice again and I saw her hand was shaking my shoulder.

"Sorry, I was miles away, wasn't I? What were you saying, Nina Bella?"

"I said, 'the super sleuths are on the case'!" She said it with such conviction and determination while my face must have shown nothing but blank.

"It's from the new Winnie the Pooh series. Derby is the new Christopher Robin," Ken helped to explain the missing links.

"Oh, right," I knew Christopher Robin, I could work with that. "So this Derby, he's a super sleuth, then?"

I must have still missed something since both Ken and Nina started laughing. Between her laughters, she exclaimed, "Derby is a girl, silly Belly!"

I looked at Ken who was still smirking and tried to defend my case, "Oh, well. That wasn't very obvious, was it? The only thing that reminded me of Derby was Kentucky, and horse racing."

Ken scrunched his brow for a few seconds, and then he started giggling, but he quickly replied before I lost my patience, "It's D-A-R-B-Y, Bella. With an A. And yes, she is a super sleuth. I'm guessing I'm the Tigger, and Jake is the silly ol' bear?" He cooed the last sentence at Nina.

"Sure. What about Bella?"

"I can be Piglet," I offered, only to result in another round of giggles. I started to regret that A.A. Milne was never in my reading list. I looked at giggling Ken, giving my best 'what now' expression.

"Piglet is a boy," Jake said from behind me.

"Really?" Seriously? "But he... he's tiny... and so pink! More pink than Barbie in Pinkland."

"He's a piglet, Bella. Pig-let." Jake repeated the last word annunciating each syllable. "A baby pig. He's meant to be exactly that. Tiny and pink. Even I knew that."

"She can be Barbie in Pinkland," said Nina clapping her hands. "Then here we have Ken and Barbie," she said her words so quickly I had to repeat them in my head to understand what she said.

"But I'm not Ken anymore. Ken has put on the super sleuth cap to join to solve the problem," he pretended to whine.

"Oh, yeah! I forgot. You're the Tigger. Silly me!"

Nina took matters seriously into her own hands when she's in super sleuth mode. He listened to her uncle's instructions very carefully and nodded her head responsively. The idea was for her to follow his cue and just act as cute as she can, which was her nature, she didn't need to try hard for that.

Ken had a couple of wireless bug which he assured was the latest gadget in the technology market. One set has a tiny yet powerful microphone which can be easily put in the pocket, and a wireless ear-bud with built-in camera. The other one had the same microphone paired with a small recording device with built-in speaker and a small LCD display. We asked Nina to hide behind the sofa with the microphone and wireless ear-bud, and she was so excited we could hear her real scream louder than that on our tiny speaker. There was absolutely no delay in transmission and the sound quality was perfect. Ken said the range was about 10 meters before we could detect minor glitch in the quality. We had to talk Nina into giving the gadget back to Ken and she only let go after Ken promised to let Nina use it afterwards.

It was raining very heavily so we strolled towards 5th Avenue with umbrellas which Ken had provided then we stopped just before the apartment, sitting on an empty bench on the side road, underneath a big tree. Everyone was busy to get to meet their loved one's and families since it's Thanksgiving. Only crazy people like me would wander on the streets when it's raining with no intentions on even having a proper Thanksgiving meal today. _At least I am doing everything in my power to meet my loved one and family. _I just felt guilty for dragging an innocent girl with her uncle and my best friend into my mess.

Ken ran through the instructions again with us while he put on the ear-bud and put the minuscule microphone safely in his front shirt pocket. He still covered it with his coat but there was no detrimental effect on the resultant quality. It even canceled out the background noise. The rain was still pouring heavily yet we couldn't hear a thing on the receiver side. He smirked smugly patting where the microphone was, "Good stuff, I tell ya." With that he winked at Jacob and we heard taps from the speaker. I saw Jacob's eyes had been zeroed on the gadgets since Ken produced them. I had given him the sole responsibility in holding on to the recording device which resulted in a huge grin across his face. Boys and his gadgets. Looked like Nina would have a serious competition later on.

With that, he knelt down, gave Nina a nudge and she climbed on his back.

"Don't worry, Bella. If he's anything like my dad, he won't know what hit him. Nina Bella is quite a charmer. Trust me." Ken gave the umbrella to me and started running towards the apartment building. I could see him sheltering right in front of the building for a few moments. He lowered himself and put Nina back down. They started having conversation in Italian and then she started crying. Loudly. I could hear her stomping her feet on the wet pavement and throwing tantrums, in Italian. We knew about this part. The idea was that to tell Maurizio that they were just waiting for the rain to clear but she was having none of it..

It wasn't long before I could hear the third voice. It was Maurizio's! He must have had let them in because Ken and Nina had disappeared inside. Nina had stopped crying and started talking non-stop to Maurizio. Maurizio would reply to her just as talkative. They talked very fast I couldn't tell where the beginning and the end of each sentence. Maurizio sounded very affectionate towards Nina, unlike the way he spoke with me. Their laughters and giggles occasionally appeared in between. I couldn't understand why we needed to hear their conversations if they were talking to each other in Italian anyway. Ken would speak in English sometimes to fill us in, and he had told Maurizio a fabricated fact that his wife, Nina's mother was Italian from Milan, and he was an Italian-born American and couldn't speak Italian as good as Nina. The last fact wasn't fabricated, though. He did tell us that Nina spoke better Italian than him.

Half an hour later, they were still chatting happily inside and the rain was still pouring where we're sitting outside. From Ken's comments, now they're talking more towards what we wanted to know, because Maurizio had started blabbering about each occupant in his building. They'd discuss every single one of them, and Nina would talk about her exciting friend from school, then immediately Maurizio would reply with more information and new, more exciting people to discuss between them.

We knew at some point she'd ask if he could give tour around the building, or if she could see inside one of the empty apartment. I knew Maurizio had succumbed into her cute ploy because I could hear them walking for a while. I looked up to Jake which had an amused look on his face.

"Twenty-seven, Ken. The number to the apartment we're looking for is twenty-seven," I spoke to the microphone.

I heard one tap from the receiver, a sign that he had rogered us. Suddenly the LCD display was on. Jacob's eyes went even wider than before.

They were outside room number 27. Nina was asking questions and Ken kept telling Maurizio politely to ignore her, but I saw Maurizio was too taken by her to refuse anything, whatever she was asking for. He was as good as being voodooed by her. He proudly held up his key, and Nina was jumping up and down with excitement and clapping her hands vigorously.

"He's opening the door! Jake! Look! He's opening the door!!!" Nina's excitement was really contagious. I couldn't contain myself and would have jumped up and down too if it wasn't raining so heavily. I was already drenched despite the umbrellas. I was still clapping and biting my lip nervously until it hurt.

I heard two taps from the receiver. I must have screamed at Ken's ear because that was his way to say no. One tap for yes and two for no.

"Sorry," I said on lower volume to the microphone. "Couldn't help myself."

I saw the door opened and saw the interior inside. It has white painted walls and was open-planned, similar to the one they had in their house in Forks, but in smaller scale.

"Look around. As much as you can. Oh, God..." I couldn't control my blabbering now. I took the receiver from Jacob and kept my eyes open and glued to the small LCD screen without blinking much while Jacob hovered behind me. Maurizio was explaining about something in the background while Ken kept prodding him with more questions. I heard some English words mixed in his Italian, like mailbox, letters, owner, but couldn't quite manage to understand any of the conversation. They went to the wooden chest drawer in the corner of the living room, and opened the top drawer. There were some letters inside. They talked some more and walked to the master bedroom. A queen size four poster bed in the middle came to view with a burgundy velvet comforter spread evenly over the bed. It gave a feeling of a hotel room, like the one I was staying at, ready for use. It was obvious that the house was routinely cleaned, whether or not people were staying in it. Maurizio pointed at the window and then I heard Nina was whining again at something that Maurizio said. That was a first. I saw Nina's face came to a close-up view and Ken said, "We'll visit him again later, okay? Remember we have to go to Nonna for lunch? It's Thanksgiving, dear."

Nina's face lit up at the mention of 'Nonna', and she started nodding profusely. Only then I realised that Maurizio must have pointed out to them that the rain had stopped because I couldn't feel a drop on me anymore. I was too occupied with the whole thing to pay attention to my surroundings.

They said their goodbyes, Nina was piggybacking Maurizio all the way down the hallway to the lift until the front door came to view. Before they left, Nina gave him a kiss and he replied similarly. I started walking towards the hotel before we saw them coming out of the building, because that was our plan since we didn't want Maurizio to recognise us.

Jacob waited standing by the door and I was too excited to sit down so I just paced back and forth at the entrance. I squealed when I saw them coming towards us, and Nina started running towards me.

"Was I a good super sleuth, Bella?"

"The best, Nina Bella! The very best!" I hugged her appreciatively.

Ken was on his phone, and I knew he was listening to his voice mail, because he was doing this sequence that must have been 'press delete, go to next message' twelve times at least since I noticed him doing that.

I was about to ask him to recount their conversations with Maurizio, when he held up one finger asking me to wait while speed-dialing a number. The other side must have picked up the phone immediately and after he said "Hello" he just kept quiet. Less than two minutes later he hung up the phone and said to Nina, "We have to go now, Nina Bella. Your mom is very angry at me."

"But you promised me gelati!"

"I'm sorry, but I have to take you home first. A promise is still a promise, Nina Bella, and I will give your three scoops, hopefully later today. But if we don't go home right now, I might not be in one piece to drive you to Elaine's."

"Promise?"

"Promise. As soon as we can leave the feast, we go to Elaine's, okay?"

"Okay, then. Is mommy angry at me too?"

"I don't think so, Nina Bella. Just at me." He assured her.

Then Ken quickly turned to me and Jacob and said, "Do you have plans for lunch?"

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**AN: I know I know. It's been a while and I'm still busy to sit down and write properly, but one review inspired me to update. It reminded me there are other people that really read this story so I felt obliged somewhat. I couldn't break this chapter anyway so this is quite a long one, but don't get used to it. **

**Let me know what you think, please. I know I should say that it doesn't matter that people review it or not, I will update. However as it turns out, I do care what you think and I want to know. Thanks to those who reviewed!**

**Edit: Forgot to add - I don't know if this is relevant, but I've been listening to this song continuously while writing this song so it's sort of my inspiration for this chapter. If you like Coldplay - Viva La Vida and Taylor Swift - Love Story, you would love this one, because it's a piano-cello duet piece by Jon Schmidt of the two songs. It's brilliant and beautifully done. If you have similar songs you'd like to recommend me, please do. I'd love them! link: http://www(DOT)youtube(DOT)com/watch?v=0v3d6SFcDys  
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	10. The lady who lunches

**AN: Really. I wasn't going to post this today, but the last review got me really excited and finish this chapter off quickly. You guys should surprise me like that often. :D It's past midnight and I'm so tired but here it is! I'm truly sorry for the epic fail in updating, but I would have done it sooner if I could.  
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**Disclaimer: Everything Twilight is obviously not mine.  
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Nothing, I mean, nothing could prepare me to see the wrath of Ken's sister, who was also Nina's mother, Mia. From the moment I saw her, it was very apparent that she was very feisty, dominating, commanding with good intentions at heart. Delightfully reminded me of Alice.

Ken was in trouble because Mia had arranged a haircut appointment for Nina in the morning. Not only did he take Nina without her mother's he 'kidnapped' Nina while Mia was in the kitchen, getting the food ready for lunch. The infuriating bit was, apart from missing the haircut appointment, that this was the n-th time Ken had done it.

"... and I should seriously ban you from entering the house from now on!" yelled Mia through gritted teeth. I sensed we were nearing the end of her fireworks. All this while both Ken and Nina stayed quiet without uttering even a syllable. They must have gotten used to be in the receiving end of her eulogy.

"Okay. What do you have to say for yourself?" huffed Mia folding her arms in front of her.

"I was doing so for charitable excuse this time," Ken said carefully, sounding more like a question than a statement. The last thing he wanted was making the tirade even longer.

"What do you mean by that?"

"See these people I brought with me?" Ken gestured to introduce Jacob and me. I smiled grimly. Was he precariously going to blame me for kidnapping his niece?

He continued when he saw Mia's indifference. "They're my friends... umm... Bella," he prodded my elbow to move forward, "and... Jacob."

What Ken said must have triggered Mia's curiosity, because her eyes started darting back and forth from Ken's, mine and Jacob.

"I hope you don't mind that I bring them along Thanksgiving lunch." _You mean we weren't actually invited? _I glared at Ken and saw that he immediately ducked his head avoiding my gaze.

"Interesting... since when do you..." Mia didn't finish her question as Ken looked up to meet her eyes. "Nina. Wash your hands and get ready for lunch. Change your clothes, they're a bit damp, I don't want you to catch a cold. Where on earth did you take her, Ken? Meet the Rain God?" said Mia with slightly more annoyed tone again.

Nina sprinted upstairs before being asked twice. Smart girl.

"Show our guests to the dining room, Ken. Others should arrive shortly. Do you need change of clothes?" Mia's demeanor changed from being an irritable mother hen to an admirable host in matter of seconds.

"We should be fine," I said, answering for Jacob too. If I had to face another wrath of Mia, I had to be in my own comfortable clothes, and Jacob was never bothered with a little bit of rain. Mia nodded then gave a peculiar look to Ken before retreated upstairs, probably checking on Nina.

"Dining room is this way," said Ken gesturing us to follow him.

"Why did you bring us here, Ken?" I asked him straight away when I saw no one was in ear-shot.

"For lunch?" Ken offered a smile nervously while looking at Jacob, most likely requesting for back up. Jacob laughed and I started again, "You know very well what I mean."

"I don't want to have prolonged argument with my sister today, being Thanksgiving day and all, and well, as it turned out, I was right. You both became my satisfactory shield. I'm not asking much, am I?"

Hearing that, I couldn't help feeling grateful for what Ken had done. It was only natural that I helped him since he was in trouble for my benefit.

"Stay for lunch?" Ken pleaded, his eyes were hopeful.

"Our pleasure, Ken," said Jacob and I nodded to Ken, saying, "Absolutely. The least we could do after what you and Nina have done for us"

As if on cue, Nina bounded into the room, looking more refreshed with fancier dress and plaited hair. "Hi Nina Bella," Ken scooped her in his arms. "Let's face another... say, two hours of torture, then we'll flee to heaven. By heaven of course I mean Elaine's, okay?"

Before we knew it, the room became more and more crowded in a matter of minutes. It looked like me and Jacob were the only people in the room who couldn't understand Italian because none of them spoke anything in English to each other.

"Jacob, Bella," I looked around and saw it was indeed Mia who then continued, "You both can sit on those two seats in front of Nina and Ken."

I sat on one of the seats she indicated, and looked around the big table. All of them were relaxedly chattering with each other and they didn't even notice two strangers, me and Jacob, sitting at the same dining table, intruding, even. That thought somewhat put me at ease and I smiled at Ken when I saw him looking at Jacob and me. "It's okay," I whispered. "Looks like we're invisible."

"Totally. Do you notice that even I am too?"

I looked around again. It was true. None of them really paid attention to Ken. They all passed him while cooing at Nina, as if he didn't exist. "Why's that? Aren't they your family?" I whispered again.

"Extended family. To them I'm just... different." He didn't say anything more on the matter and it was time to say grace. A man who looked a lot like Ken but with more wrinkles and white hair welcomed us in English, and then started praying in English too.

After dessert was served, most people had left the table. Even Nina was entertaining guests outside.

"So..." It was Mia's voice again calling behind us. "Are you his friends from LA?" Inquisitive, just like Alice.

"No." Ken replied for us. "I met them on the plane."

"From LA?"

Ken shook his head no. "From Seattle."

"Oh, right. You had a detour," said Mia knowingly.

"Drop it, Mia." Ken ground his teeth, obviously trying to fight for dominance but utterly failed because Mia just recomposed herself and asked me another question. "Are you staying at his apartment down town?"

"Mia, please. Can I talk to you privately?" I sincerely hoped he was normally not like this when asking permission from the judge to approach the bench.

"No. Obviously you've been avoiding me so I'm handling this matter my own way. If you want me to be nice then stay out of it and reply only as asked," affirmed Mia in complete authority.

"You see," Mia turned her attention back to us again, looking intently at both me and Jacob. She had been doing that a lot. Could she read something on the back of our eyes? "My little brother here has been somewhat... secretive about his personal life. Up until recently I was fully informed about the going-ons on Ken Martini's life. I am protective like that and I do this because I care about him." I heard Ken sighed in defeat and Mia glared at him. "He hardly comes to family gathering of any sort, with the exception of Thanksgiving. Out of those rare sighting of him, only once before did he bring someone along. So, the million dollar question is, are you, interested in my brother?"

I gulped as I heard Ken cursed somewhat loudly. She couldn't have been more forward than that.

"I'm... in a relationship. So,... no...." I mumbled my response, looking down at my feet. A few minutes must have passed and there was still silence in the air. I looked up and her eyes were still... expectant, still staring at us even more intense than before. She nodded at me and then her gaze deviated slightly to my left. Jake.

"Are you kidding me?!" So he did catch on her intents.

Her eyes quickly darted back to her brother, who's shaking his head profusely. "Please, Mia. Later."

"I will hold you on to that," she gave him her word of warning before leaving the room to join the others outside. I could hear Nina singing some Italian song when she opened the glass door while the adults cheered on and clapped along.

"Sorry about that, guys. She's just upset that I have been missing in action and avoiding her lately. Still, there was no reason for her to act like that. I sincerely apologise for my sister's... crudeness."

I saw from the corner of my eyes that Jacob was about to say something, so I elbowed him and said, "That's alright. Are we safe now or should we expect her to come back with another session of Spanish Inquisition later?"

"It's best to flee the scene. With her, you can't assume anything. Wait here, I just need to do a deal with a certain niece of mine."

When he was out of sight, I hissed to Jake, "I really don't want to be too involved, Jake. His private life should stay private. Certainly he was uncomfortable so let's not pry on anything, okay?"

He snorted at me. "I'm not a gossip girl, Bell. You think I'd want details of what her sister might have implied? Of course not."

"Then what were you going to say, just then?"

"You mean when you consciously tried to hurt your elbow?"

I scoffed at his male arrogance.

"If you must know," he replied, "I was going to make some witty remark about it. I'm glad you stopped me though, because I could probably offend him unintentionally. Or his sister. God, isn't she scary? Could you imagine being her husband?" He shuddered at the thought.

We didn't say anything more because we saw Ken was walking quickly towards us. "Let's scoot." he said without stopping.

I trailed behind Jacob but managed to ask, "What about Nina?"

"We are going to Elaine's to get her gelati. And extra extra biscotti."

*

Elaine's was owned by a generous middle-aged lady with the same name. She gave her 'special tubs' of her mixed gelati. Her gelati came with extra extra scoops, extra extra extra biscotti, a humongous panini and a huge serving of lasagna, enough to feed a couple, possibly three hungry mountain lions. We chatted with her for a while, discovering that she opted to open during holidays like this because she didn't want to miss out on the cheeriness of people during these times. The happiness that she brought just by a few scoops of gelati.

Ken suggested that we took our supplies to his apartment so we could share Thanksgiving dinner together. Jake was all for free food and I was more excited when Ken mentioned he could download the recorded stuff onto his computer to analyse it. He could even make a copy in a CD.

His apartment was one of the most luxurious at Park Avenue. While the building in 5th Avenue was also luxurious, it was dated and had its certain charms. Ken's was modern in every bit to the extreme, with top class security systems and futuristic décor.

Seeing how eager I was, we decided to deal with the recording business first before doing anything else. Without giving a tour around his place, Ken directed us promptly to his office, and fired up his iMac which looked nothing like my prehistoric one.

Ken translated and typed his conversations with Maurizio, starting from the important bits where they got in front of apartment number 27. He played and stopped repeatedly while typing and explaining each point. Maurizio had told him that the house belonged to a church but no one had occupied the apartment for long period of time. It would have visitors from time to time, but only short term. A week or two, three weeks at the most. Mostly just a couple of days. An Italian Catholic priest was the one who'd come most often, mainly for sorting out mail and find out if there's any problem. It was never rented out, and the property could sometimes go months and months without anyone appear to be in it, yet the owner had hired a cleaning service company that would come once a week to do house-keeping. Maurizio would let the cleaning service to enter with his key, as the priest had instructed him to do so. Their works involved changing the bed-sheets and comforter which had appeared not been slept on, vacuuming the already super clean carpet, cleaning the pristine bathroom, even down to re-stocking the fridge. It seemed to have baffled Maurizio and I felt the same way.

I kept looking at Ken's neat translation document on the screen. I didn't realise Ken was out of the room when Jake nudged me. "What do you make of it?" he whispered.

"I don't know, Jake. I don't know," I replied, still staring at the screen. "What do you think?"

"I'm confused. First of all, what's with the Italian? Is everyone here Italian or what? Even the priest is Italian!" He still kept his low volume, although I could tell he was straining it.

I nodded, agreeing with his observation.

"And then, on top of that, what's with the cleaning obsession? Don't you think it's a bit bizarre?"

I simply nodded again, absolutely in agreement and at a loss of what to think.

I bit my lip and braved myself to say, "I think we should go back there, Jake. I want to see and touch... I want to see it myself."

"No, no way, Bella. We're lucky enough to get this far without getting anyone suspicious. Don't push it."

"I've got to, Jake. What else can I do?"

"Sit back and re-think our strategy? Come on, Bells, don't be absurd and don't get carried away. You can't even get past the doorman."

"But..."

"And I'm against of doing anything criminal." Jake said with final tone.

I huffed loudly. "Of course we're not going to be doing anything criminal. My dad is a cop, remember?"

"Trespassing someone else's property _is_ a criminal act, Bella. I don't even need Ken to tell me that. You can't go in there, Bella. I won't allow it."

"You don't need Ken to tell you what?" We were both startled by Ken's sudden appearance at the door.

"We have a... disagreement." I merely stated.

"You're just being stubborn and difficult."

"You said you're going to be supportive."

"Only when your acts are justifiable."

"Which they are."

"Not."

Our voices got higher by each argument, and Ken was back at being next to us when he said, "Well, I could help being the judge but unfortunately I have no clue on the matter. With the amount of help I had given, do you think I have the right to know at least the general idea of the matter?"

I blanched at his words. We could not possibly tell him. This was why I was reluctant to ask for help, because he might know or even put two and two together. We just could not...

"This Bella here, she's looking for her boyfriend who's gone missing with his family." Jacob started, pointing his finger at me.

"No, Jacob. He's better off not knowing."

Ignoring my warning, he continued, "His family is extremely dangerous and very secretive. Hence making her quite difficult to find them."

"You mean... like some kind of a _mafia_ family?" Ken whispered the mafia part, as if the word was a taboo to say.

"Yes. Exactly like that."

Ken was livid. "What on earth are you getting yourself into, Bella?!"

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**AN: Ken's just a kind soul. Give him applause.  
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**Reviews are better than mountain lions feasting upon lasagnas. What's your favourite food?**


	11. The Godfather

**AN: I should just put a neon sign 'epic fail update' over my head. This time it took two weeks. I still love those reviews, though. Keep them coming!  
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**Favourite food: One loves hibachi chicken (which I have no idea what it is, sounds Japanesy), one pickle and ketchup (I don't know they work well together). **

**Mine is seafood of any kind. With noodles. **

**Disclaimer: Still not Stephenie Meyer, who owns everything Twilight. **

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I kept biting my lips consciously that it must have been swollen. Thankfully I didn't draw blood.

Since Ken couldn't get any answers from me – I was so scared of accidentally spilling everything – he got all necessary details from Jake.

Jake managed to portray The Cullen as a mafia family. He didn't even hide their first names. He knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with the lies. Ken being a smart guy would catch on it quickly.

"Let me get this straight..." Ken closed his eyes to concentrate like a robot retrieving the last memory saved in his brain machine. "There's this highly dangerous and powerful mafia family called The Cullen..." He paused, and his eyes went a bit wider. "They're not... Italian mafia, are they?"

That seemed to amuse Jake. He started laughing uncontrollably. "Why?" Jake asked in between his laughter. "Is that supposed to make them even more ferocious?"

"Ugh... you don't even want to know. The Italian mafias are, well, they're closed knitted, and they're everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. You can't trust anyone." His eyes were still wide but they were now slightly unfocused.

Jake came out of his laughter and then replied to Ken's unanswered question. "No. They're definitely not Italians. However their power are not something to be belittled."

"Right," Ken snapped back into it. "And she...", he pointed at me, "was romantically involved with one of them."

"Is." I corrected. Both sets of eyes were now on me. "You said was... and I... I mean although we're not... But I..."

"My mistake." said Ken. "She _is_ romantically involved with Edward, a member of this mafia family. The relationship as far as she's concerned is still very much alive, but now she's having problems locating where he is. Is that correct?"

I nodded and Jake gave him a low five.

"You know he's dangerous and you still want to be with him." It wasn't a question, it was mere a statement but I nodded to that.

"Do you know that you could end up..." He didn't continue.

"Dead?" I nodded again. "I know all about that, had one close call too."

He shook his head unbelievingly. "Are you out of your mind? And you," he pointed at Jake, "You're supporting her, you don't think this is _unhealthy_ for her?" His tone became higher by each word he said.

"Hey, it's not my fault that she's so stubborn." Jake defended himself, and of course I couldn't blame him for that. No one should.

"Don't even think about trying to make me change my mind, Ken. Edward left because he thought he's too dangerous for me. I'm here, and that translates to I'm willing to do anything, absolutely anything comprehensible to be with him."

Ken sighed in reply but he didn't question my stance on this. "So you're adamant to find him and make him yours again?"

I nodded again, happy that he understood while Jake shook his head saying, "I was only here for moral support. I have no problem with him being missing, forever."

I knew how he felt about Edward, about how he thought Edward had ditched me and all. I should be grateful that Jake was still here supporting me, be it only for moral support. I needed all the help I could get.

"Is he your rival in your love interest, Jacob?" Ken's out of the blue question was not what I expected. It surprised Jake too, it appeared, since he stumbled for his words.

"Uh, we're... love? No. No... no no. No. It's not like that, right Bells?" I nodded in confirmation.

"So you don't want to take Edward's place and make her forget him?" Ken saw Jake was squirming awkwardly with the current questioning, and the lawyer in him pressed further.

"I'm all for her forgetting him." I glared at him. "What?" Jake looked at me, shrugged. "I think you're much better off without him, but you never listen to me anyway, right? Since you obviously can't, then I'll just help you to find some kind of a closure, I guess."

"You didn't answer half of my question," Ken stated a-matter-of-factly.

"Which one?" I could hear Jake's brain was straining to its full capacity. "Oh,..." He recognised which part of the question that he had not answered, then paused to think of the answer before he replied, "No. Honestly speaking I don't think anyone could take Edward's place. Not now anyway, at least, and maybe not for a long while. Even if I try, it would be a wasted effort on my part."

Ken nodded, satisfied with Jake's answer and Jake sighed in relief.

"This apartment we went to, the number 27. Is it their property?" Ken asked while sitting down. He retrieved a big leather bound notepad from his drawer, found an empty page and started jotting on it.

"They owned a number of property, I believe," I said, keeping careful watch of each of my words. "And that is one of them, as far as I know."

"Any other property you know?"

"Apart from the one near Forks, I don't know where the other ones are located."

"How did you find this one?"

"Jake tracked one of his posh car."

Ken looked up to Jacob, and Jacob knowingly replied his silent question. "Aston Martin. V12 Vanquish."

"Cool dude," Ken whistled then looked at me. "I expected no less, of course."

"Have you done reverse address on the number 27?" He asked again.

Reverse address? "Didn't we do just that with the license number plate?" I asked him.

"No. You found the address of the Vanquish's owner, but not necessarily the owner of the house."

Ken jotted some more on his notebook and then as he was drumming his expensive looking pen, casually he said, "I could do that for you, and I could even find some more information on the address more than a commoner would. Would you like me to do that for you?"

He spoke like a truly professional and I had no doubt that he was. It was just that, well, another word for professional was expensive.

"I... um... Ken..." I really didn't know how else to put it so I just blurted it out, "I can't afford you."

He scrunched his forehead and the corners of his mouth pulled down in a frown. "That's just plain insulting, Bella. I wouldn't have offered my help if I want your money."

"But why would you do that for me? We had just met, I mean yes we're friends, but..."

"We're friends. Simple as that. Please don't argue with me, Bella."

"I know you're probably just being nice, Ken, but I just want to know your motivation so that I could decide whether to trust you or not with your help." I stressed to myself that I could not easily trust anyone. There were other things involved in this, and the existence of vampires should have been a secret to human. What was it that Edward said before? A royal family that ruled their underground world? I couldn't remember the name.

Ken was still drumming his pen in a slow, rhythmical pattern. After a long silence, he eventually uttered in a very low voice, "I was in similar situation like you just a few months back, Bella, and it's probably what had drawn me to your whole fiasco, and I just want... at least one of us to have a happy ending." He ended the sentence in an even lower volume, almost as if he was talking the last bit to himself.

I wasn't sure if it was just because I was in a dead-end in my desperate attempt to find Edward, or because I truly trusted Ken, that I then said okay. I knew I shouldn't have involved anybody else into this _fiasco_, as Ken has put it so perfectly, but I really needed and wanted his help. I told him not to put my 'case' as his first priority, and he assured me that he had intentionally freed up most of his schedule from a few months prior, that he would be able to take up this side project.

We discussed more while having dinner. It was then that I realised that I was either too trusting, or I luckily always met trustworthy people. I chose to believe the latter, and I put Edward number one in that said list.

Having dubbed The Cullen as a mafia family, we were careful as not to divulge any details about their lifestyle. We told him that they might have hereditary properties and wealth from God knows when and what period of time, and that they were rich although we had no idea as to how rich they were. I had to kept myself from giggling every time he referred Carlisle as The Godfather, but it was really true in all retrospect.

I told him that Alice was a shopaholic and probably had a few credit cards in different names. Ken told us that credit card details were more difficult to trace, unless we knew the exact card number or the card holder's name, but he would look up any information with the names I provided. I also gave the address of the house in Forks too.

After dinner he gathered all his notes and put it in a laptop bag. He said he had promised to stay overnight at his sister's house. He dropped us off at the hotel on his way there.

*

I was surprised that the next morning Ken had asked to meet up at the hotel because he had some information on the apartment number 27. I told him to come up to our room directly, and he was here knocking at the door less than an hour later.

"Bad news I'm afraid," Ken told me as he sat down on the chair, the only one in the room.

Had we been looking for him at a wrong address? But the Vanquish was registered with that address. "Meaning?" I asked.

"The house was owned by..." He paused, reaching for a paper from his laptop bag and read it aloud. "Angelo Cardelli." He smirked at me, "Yes, see, another Italian."

I was sure none of the Cullens were of Italian descendants. We just made up the mafia bit to cover up, surely they couldn't involve themselves in Italian mobsters, right?

"I looked him up, too." Ken said again. "Father Angelo Cardelli. He is an 89 years old Catholic pastor, and his usual residence is at a church in Manhattan, on 7th Avenue, not too far from here."

Not at all what I had expected. Were they religious? A Catholic, in fact? No, that couldn't be right. I remembered now, Edward had said that Carlisle's dad was an Anglican pastor and actively persecuted other religions including Roman Catholics. Was there a connection from that incident? But that was, like... well over three hundred years ago, and I couldn't reveal that fact to Ken.

Ken looked at me, expecting me to say something. Jake had similar look on his face.

"I guess we'll have to talk to this father person." I looked up at Jake to ask for his confirmation. He just shrugged at me. "Do you have the address?" I asked Ken and he nodded affirmatively.

I stood up and headed to the door when I heard both of them shuffling about behind me. "Oh you mean right now?" Ken asked.

"Do you suggest another time?"

"It's a Sunday, in case you didn't notice." So? I looked at him expecting him to continue.

He looked at his watch. That was the second time he did in a matter of two minutes. "They usually have masses until noon. Unless you want to join the mass?" I shook my head no. "How about I call them up and schedule for a meeting with this father guy this evening, if he's free?"

I forgot that Ken's an Italian, and probably a Roman Catholic too, because it looked like he was familiar with their customs.

He was on the phone and I could hear he was inquiring to speak or make an appointment to meet with Father Angelo, and he hung up after not a long conversation.

"He's available now because he's not scheduled to celebrate any mass today. I said we'll be there in half an hour."

"Well, what are we waiting for then?" I walked back towards the direction of the door.

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**AN: Summer vacation has just started in England. That means either I'm going to have more free time hence will write more often, or I will be so busy with the kids that I'd hardly have any energy left saving for breathing. Either way, we'll soon find out. Thanks for still reading this fanfiction and feed my addiction. Love you all.**


	12. Angelo

**AN: Longer AN at the bottom. **

**Disclaimer: Stephenie's. Will never be mine, I can only dream of Edward.  
**

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**The church was old and had a cemetery on one of its side. We were directed to the reception at first, the first door on the right in the big building that seemed to be connected to the main church where a mass was being held. When I mentioned the name, the lady at the reception office had this confused look that made both Jacob and Ken repeated the name with slightly different pronunciations but after a long minute she suddenly snapped out of whatever stupor she was in and said "Of course!". She signaled us to follow her down a long dark, empty corridor that echoed each footstep even though none of us were wearing heels. I honestly didn't know what to say yet or even where she could possibly take us to. I half expected her to shuffle all three of us to a confession room and make us confess to all of our sins. I chuckled at the thought of that, emitting a loud sharp echo and synchronised glares from Ken and Jake, who were walking side by side in front of me.

The lady knocked on a door, and waited for a few seconds. We heard no reply from the inside yet she opened the door anyway and let us in. The room was tiny, with just enough space to perch a desk and a chair behind it, with small window behind the said chair. In front of the desk there were two chairs, likely meant for any two of us to sit on. The lady told us to wait there and someone will come down to see us. After she left the room, Ken pointed at the two chairs asking me to sit on one of them. Jake took the other chair and sat down, while Ken took a spot behind Jake, resting his back on the wall.

There was a tall bookcase on each facing sides of the wall with cluttered dusty contents. Mostly books or documents with a few artifacts and... parchments?

I heard footsteps coming again and soon enough a young looking priest dressed in all black robe came into the room.

He introduced himself as Father Nicholas and before I complained that he's not the one we're looking for, he explained that he handled all Father Angelo's matters and that he's in seclusion and never receive audiences. I pressed on saying it was an important matter and he dismissively said Father Angelo couldn't do any miracles despite of what we might have heard.

"But we're not here for miracles. Look, my... fiancé has gone missing and..." I thought I should use the word 'fiancé' to make him take the matter more seriously. I might look too young to have one, but he never asked for my age and I could lie if he did.

"He doesn't do detective business either, I'm afraid. He won't be able to help you anything," said Father Nicholas with a final, curtly tone.

"I'm not asking him to find my fiancé," I huffed and had to remind myself to keep a calm, polite tone. "It's just that I know Father Angelo's a friend of his family so I just want to speak to him... Please. Can you just tell him that my fiancé's name is Edward and his father is Doctor Carlisle Cullen..."

"Absolutely not. He has strict orders not to..." A shrill ring interrupted him, it came from the middle of the messy desk. He moved some papers aside and revealed a phone underneath and lifted the receiver.

"Yes... Right... Sure," was all I could hear from his side of the conversation.

He put the phone down and turned back around to look at me with muddled look his face. "That was Father Angelo. He said you can wait here in this room and he'll see you soon. But the gentlemen should wait at the reception."

I nodded, looking at worried faces of my friends. "I'll be fine. Won't take long." I didn't know why I said that because I had no idea how long I would have to wait here nor what to expect to happen later.

They both reluctantly left the room, and Father Nicholas was right behind them, leaving me alone sitting still on the same chair, gnawing at my lips nervously. I felt warm from the combination of wearing a thick coat and the stuffiness of the tiny room.

Turned out I didn't have to wait long because soon I could hear a definite set of languid footsteps. I looked at the slightly left ajar door expectantly, not knowing what to expect.

I didn't expect to see a very old looking priest to appear from behind the door. I totally didn't expect to see an old man looking so gracious in his movements. And never in a million years did I expect to see a set of golden eyes staring back at me.

"I... Uh... You're Father Angelo?" I suddenly lost my ability to form coherent thoughts, let alone asking him questions.

"I am, yes. And you are Miss Swan I heard?" he said with thick Italian accent.

"Please call me Bella."

"Molto Bella. What can I do for you? I understand you're looking for a... missing fiancé?"

I nodded dumbly. He smiled and made his way to sit on the chair behind the desk, facing me, while I used the time to recollect myself from the brain freeze.

"Is your fiancé a novice here, Bella? Because this seems to be the least likely place to find a fiancé," he said with instilled smile on his face, clearly amused by my current predicament. I couldn't keep myself from staring at his golden eyes, which had gone darker around the edges.

"You... are one of them." I was so proud that I could finally form a single sentence, and I released a long breath I didn't even realise I was holding.

His smile grew even wider, and I now noticed that his skin colour was exactly like them, but this was the first time I saw one with wrinkles on them. His hair was a few shade whiter than the paleness of the skin. His lips were moving then, "And you're clearly... not."

"This fiancé of yours, Edward, you said," he continued. "He's like me, yes? Same coloured eyes?"

I nodded, asking him, "Do you know him? Or Carlisle, maybe?"

Instead of answering my question, he asked another. "How did you come to find out about me, my child?"

"The property in 5th Avenue. It's on your name." I said a-matter-of-fact-ly.

"Ah... yes. They still use it as one of their correspondences and legal matters."

By 'they' I was sure he meant the Cullen family. I braved myself to ask again, "You know them, then?"

"Bella, my child, you shouldn't really look into matters that you're not supposed to know. Leave them be. If they don't want to be found, then it will be difficult to find them. If you keep going, you'll end up endangering them, not to mention yourself."

I didn't mind putting myself in danger, but... "Endangering them? But how?"

"You're clearly less informed than I thought," he sighed. "Do you know our kind has ultimate leaders?"

I thought for a while and remembered those colourful paintings from Carlisle's time in Italy. "You mean the royal family?"

"Oh, so you do know about the Volturi."

Yes. The Volturi. Now I recalled the exact word that Edward said, "You don't irritate the Volturi – not unless you want to die – or whatever it is we do."

"I see. If they find out that I'm looking for them... it means I'm in danger because I knew of their existence and they're in danger... because... they couldn't preserve the one rule they're supposed to...?" Understanding dawned on me as I said the words.

"Very smart, Bella. You have impressive comprehension," he said, clasping his hands together.

I had not thought about this at all. What if this Father Angelo person was a friend of the Volturi? He could easily rat me out and put the Cullen family in danger. I looked at him in horror.

"I know what you must be thinking. No. They all leave me alone. Even the Cullen. I haven't really been in contact with others of my kind apart from Carlisle,... occasionally."

I understood that he meant 'occasionally' not in regular term, but I was relieved to hear that at least he was a friend of Carlisle. "You are Carlisle's friend then?"

"Oh no, my dear. We're certainly not friends. Our relationship is strictly business." I must have looked somewhat distraught again since he quickly quipped, "I guess I'm more of a friend to Carlisle than to the Volturi, and I wouldn't go out of my way to go to Volturi just to get you or Carlisle in trouble."

"How much of a trouble would they be if... if the Volturi find out about me?"

"Ha. That's not something for us to speculate, my child. Do you know how I came to this existence?" he asked, gesturing at his glorious body.

I shook my head no, and he continued, telling his tale. "I had been a priest in my human life, living in solitude in my old age, having no business whatsoever in finding out other existence, unlike you. I was just caught up at the wrong place at the wrong time, that I became Aro's present to Carlisle. It was just a cruel joke that Aro was playing at, trying to convince Carlisle to stay in Italy longer. They are cruel like that, and as much as I hate Carlisle for being the reason of my change, I can't hate him because he saved me from murdering a whole gathering of my brethren in a mass. He introduced me to this way of life, living off animal. Carlisle begged Aro to finish me off, but there was practically nothing anyone can do once Aro has decided.

"You see? The Volturi don't need a valid reason to be savage. Do not cross your path with them. You're lucky that you meet me, imagine if you had met others of my kind instead."

"I understand. But..." The last thing I wanted was putting Edward and his family in danger. But did it mean there was no way I could find him again? "Do you have any way of contacting Carlisle? I mean without being detected by the Volturi, of course. I just... I really have to... Can you contact him?" I felt my cheeks wet from tears. I didn't even realised they were pooling at my eyes.

He looked at me with eyes expressing passion like he could understand my pain. "Well, as a matter of fact, my dear, I can."

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**AN: I'm soooooooo sorry. Turned out I had both my hands full all through summer, then I was occupied with the beginning of school year, viral infections that both my kids had back to back, and a lot of other things. If you must know, I typed half of this chapter at the waiting room in the hospital. On my mobile. Risking carpal tunnel. Yep, that's how much I'm committed to continue this story, so don't question my dedication. It's definitely there. Just be patient with me. **

**Thanks to those who reviewed, faved and put this story on their alerts. Sorry I haven't had the time to reply to those reviews either, but I really appreciate them and have read all of them. I love you guys, and you are the reason why I have such dedication to continue this story, so keep them coming and let me know how I'm doing. **

**The review button down here is feeling lonely and needs pressing. Don't you think? ;)  
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